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The death toll from Sunday's incident, where a passenger taxi caught fire, has risen to three after one of the women rescued from the blaze succumbed to her injuries at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital.

The deceased, identified as Angella Nafuna, was rushed to the hospital along with another female passenger following the fiery incident that occurred around 4:30 pm on Clive Road in the city centre.

James Mubi, the Kiira region police spokesman, stated that preliminary investigations indicated Nafuna was en route to the Bugisu sub-region. Efforts are being made to locate her next of kin.

He mentioned that Nafuna was severely burnt and passed away on Sunday night, hours after being admitted to the hospital.

The other injured woman, whose identity remains unknown, is still receiving treatment at the health facility.

Mubi added that the bodies of a child believed to be about five years old, and another woman, both retrieved from the vehicle's wreckage, had not been identified by press time on Monday.

The incident occurred when the taxi, registration number UBA 463V, which had just departed for Mbale city, suddenly erupted in flames after a loud bang. This took place at Clive East Road, near the Iganga Road junction and adjacent to the Jinja Mayfair Hotel building and American Supermarket.

Mubi said the police have launched investigations into the possible cause of the deadly fire. He mentioned in an interview on Monday that detectives and forensic experts have been dispatched to the scene to collect more clues.

Police personnel and residents of Jinja city on Sunday struggled to put out a fire that broke out in a taxi destined for Mbale city, killing two passengers instantly and injuring others. The third person a woman died at Jinja hospital hours later. (Photo by Charles Kakamwa)

Among other tasks, detectives combed the scene, which remained briefly cordoned off on Monday morning, for fragments that could be examined to determine if the bang resulted from an explosive device.

How it unfolded

Ali Kayima who works on Clive Road, said they stopped the driver of the ill-fated vehicle moments earlier after sensing danger.

He said this was after they saw sparks coming from the rear end of the vehicle and accordingly notified the driver who stopped promptly and instructed the conductor to exit and inspect the vehicle.

He added that after a brief check, the conductor re-entered the vehicle and it resumed moving. However, moments later, a loud bang was heard before the car erupted in flames, with the occupants screaming for help.

Erisa Mugweri, one of the survivors and tout at Mbale stage in Jinja Taxi Park, said the car was supposed to drop him off at Wairaka in Jinja before proceeding to Mbale.

He stated that there were 12 passengers on board plus the driver only identified as Denis, the conductor and himself.

Mugweri narrated that when the car jammed, its doors locked themselves which made it difficult for the occupants to escape though many others later jumped out, some through the windows, but three women and a child remained trapped in the back seat. 

Wycliffe Irongo a mechanic at Kirinya Road in Jinja city said he suspects that the blast could have come from filling the car with the wrong fuel. “That car being a [Toyota Hiace] Drone (which mostly use diesel), it is possible that a mistake was made and it was fuelled with petrol. This is what always causes sparks and fire in the exhaust pipe,” he said.

Vinn Lawrence Ssemaganda, the LC1 chairman of Alidina village where the accident occurred, asked drivers and car owners to always make routine maintenance of their vehicles to make them roadworthy.