Police speak out on tragic accident that killed 9 family members in Lwengo

KAMPALA, UGANDA: Police have confirmed that nine people including two children from the same family were killed in a tragic accident along the Masaka highway in Lwengo district on Friday afternoon.

In a statement released on Friday evening, Traffic Police spokesperson Ms Faridah Nampiima said the accident that involved a Toyota Alphard vehicle UBL 314C and a Fuel Truck no SSD 327S/SSD 137Q occurred at around 4 pm at Kyoja Trading Centre in Kinoni along the Masaka-Mbarara highway.

Nampiima says the Toyota Alphard car was travelling from Kampala side heading to Mbarara and while the fuel truck was from Mbarara/Kinoni town headed towards Kampala.

She says preliminary findings from eyewitnesses indicate that the Alphard driver was at high speed and keeping right, where he crashed head-on with the fuel tanker killing nine people on the spot who were passengers in the Alphard.

“The deceased included two children and seven adults all family members who were travelling in the Alphard whereas the driver of the fuel truck and the turn man sustained injuries and were rushed for treatment in Masaka referral hospital,” Nampiima said.

“More inquiries into the incident are underway and more details will be availed in due course but we want to take this opportunity to warn all motorists travelling upcountry for Easter celebrations to drive carefully, avoid speeding, phone driving, drink driving and all other road indiscipline that result into accidents,” she added.

The scene for Friday’s road crash is a renowned blackspot where about ten people perished in a deadly accident in late December 2022.

“This place has been our black spot where have registered many accidents and we have made many reports. It is a slope and a long curve of almost 300 metres towards the swamp. So, there’s an element of speed in this area,” SP Komaketch, the greater Masaka regional traffic officer SP Richard Komaketch told journalists on Friday evening.