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435 died in 5 weeks due to accidents, over 10 daily – Police report

According to the report, if the road accidents continue to be high, Uganda is likely to have the highest number of road killings it has seen ever by December 31st.

KAMPALA, UGANDA: The traffic records released last month show that 435 people were killed in various road accidents across the country in just five weeks. The figures also indicate that 1,300 people were left nursing serious injuries.

According to Traffic Police Spokesperson Ms. Faridah Nampiima, a total of 69 people perished in road crashes in the first nine days of July when added to the 366 people killed in June, this brings the total number of road deaths to 435.

The deaths also mean 87 lost their life each week that passed. When computed to days, the road killing translates into 12 people dying each day as a result of vehicle, motorcycle or bicycle crashes.

Some of the major road fatalities registered in the first week of July were at Kinawata railway crossing where three people coming from a hangout were crushed by a train. Two of the trio have been identified as Caroline Aturinda and Nobert Tezikara.

Another crash that killed 10 people happened on Bombo road. Police have arrested the driver who was aged 22 years. It is believed that the victims were netballers from Bwaise but no one has come out to claim ownership of the taxi. Nampiima said the cause of the Bombo crash was a tyre burst while the Kinawataka crash resulted from reckless driving.

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According to the report, if the road accidents continue to be high, Uganda is likely to have the highest number of road killings it has seen ever by December 31st.

Last year, 4,159 people died in road crashes translating to 11 people losing their lives in road crashes every day. However, since April this year to date, daily road crash deaths have been ranging from 12 to 14 persons.

Figures from last year also indicated that most of the deaths were of boda boda riders standing at 1,390, followed by pedestrians at 1,384, the situation which hasn’t changed much. Pedestrians and motorcyclists are still the biggest numbers of victims.

Mr. Sam Bambanza, a road safety activist and director of Hope for Victims of Traffic Accidents (HOVITA) says efforts should be on investigating every crash to establish the causes. Bambanza adds that there is also a need to have a robust emergency response system.

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