Police officer among 11 dead in Masaka-Mbarara Road crash

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A Police officer was among 11 people killed in a road collision involving a passenger bus (UAL 492H) and a truck (UBH 013Q) along the Masaka-Mbarara Road in Lwengo district on Tuesday.

Initial reports had placed the number of the dead at eight, but the death toll rose after three succumbed to injuries in hospital.

The tragic crash happened at a spot in Kiteledde Kalegero, between Lyantonde and Kyazanga.

Witnesses said the truck, reportedly speeding, lost control and rammed into the rear of the bus, killing the passengers seated at the back.

Witnesses told New Vision that after being hit, the bus swerved off the road to a crashing halt.

Ernest Abaho, a police officer attached to Mukono Central Police Station, was identified as one of the dead.

Southern Region Police spokesperson Twaha Kasirye said police managed to recover the dead bodies from the bus wreckage and others flung out on the ground.

The injured passengers were taken to Lyantonde Hospital and nearby clinics in Kyazanga for emergency treatment.

The identities of the majority of the dead were not immediately established as most of them did not have identification documents on them, according to Kasirye, who attributed the crash to speeding.

He said some of the injured passengers sustained minor injuries and were recovering.