Inmates injured in Fort Portal road accident

 A pickup truck in which prisoners were travelling in.

At least 17 inmates have been critically injured after a lorry rammed into a pickup truck in which they were travelling in Fort Portal.

The prisoners sustained serious injuries and were rushed to Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital where they have been admitted.

According to the Prisons spokesperson, Frank Baine, the accident occurred at Harubaho along the Fort Portal-Kamwenge Road.

Baine said that the early morning accident was a result of reckless driving by a pickup driver who never followed the traffic rules.

 "It's true our staff and the prisoners were involved into an accident in Fort Portal as they were going for an outside labor and they being attended to at Fort Portal hospital," Baine said.

He dismissed the allegations that some of the prisoners took advantage of the accident to escape.

The Rwenzori West Regional Police spokesperson, Lydia Tumushabe, said that the accident was caused by a bodaboda cyclist who was riding recklessly.

Tumushabe said that both the drivers of the pick-up registration number UAE 213 Y and Iveco lorry number UAY 699Q escaped without injuries. They are on the run.