KAGADI, UGANDA: At least 17 people have been confirmed dead following a tragic road accident that involved a commuter taxi and a Fuso truck in Kagadi district on Sunday evening.
The 8 pm road crash which left five others injured occurred in Muhorro Town Council, Kagadi District, along the Kagadi-Kyenjojo-Fort Portal Highway.
A count of details by eyewitnesses shows that the Fuso truck, carrying silverfish, failed to brake and collided head-on with the taxi, which was travelling from Fort Portal to Kagadi.
“The Fuso truck failed to brake and the driver lost control thus ramming into a taxi. We have so far counted 16 lifeless bodies including that of the taxi driver identified as Henry Acaali,” Mr Felix Amumpaire, an eyewitness said.
However, in the latest update by police on Monday afternoon, the death toll in the road crash had risen to 17 after another body was recovered as breakdown cars cleared the wreckage from the road.
According to Amumpaire, the victims, including the taxi driver, were mostly residents of Kagadi Town Council who were returning from a burial in Fort Portal.
He added that about five injured persons were taken to the nearby Muhorro Community Health Centre for medical attention.
SP Julias Allan Hakiza speaking of the incident attributed the accident to the FUSO which failed to break due to a mechanical fault before colliding head-to-head with the commuter taxi.
“We have established that the truck number UAB 431Q loaded with dry fish coming from Kagadi direction to Kyenjojo District, upon reaching Muzizi Forest, it developed a mechanical condition and failed to break crashing a taxi coming from Kyenjojo direction,” Hakiza said on Monday.
Locals expressed concerns over frequent accidents that have happened at the same spot in the past few days, while Hakiza said that police were yet to identify the deceased individuals.
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