Three people have been killed in a head-on collision at Kamengo in Mpigi district.

The Wednesday, April 17, 2024, night crash involved a truck and a Subaru Forester.

Micheal Kananura, the Traffic and Safety Directorate Spokesperson, on Thursday, said all the three who died were occupants of the Subaru Forester, while the fourth injured passenger was rushed to the hospital.

“The territorial traffic Police in Mpigi yesterday night at around 11:40pm on April 17, 2024, registered a fatal crash in Kamengo at Kasuule Ayanguwa swamp along Masaka-Kampala highway. The crash involved two motor vehicles UAL 605U Mitsubishi Fuso and UBH 247L Subaru Forester,” Kananura said.

He revealed that the preliminary report indicates that the said motor vehicles were moving in opposite directions.

“The Mitsubishi Fuso was from Kampala to Masaka side, while at Kasuule Ayanguwa Swamp in Kamengo along Masaka-Kampala highway, collided with the Subaru Forester, which was moving from Masaka to Kampala killing instantly three occupants in a Subaru Forester who included the driver and critically injured one other passenger in the same car,” Kananura added.

He said the victim was rushed to Double Cure in Mpigi for medical attention.

“Bodies were conveyed to Gombe Hospital mortuary for postmortem. Both motor vehicles were towed to Kamengo police station pending inspection,” he added.

Damning statistics 

According to the annual traffic and safety report released in February 2024, Uganda recorded a 30 percent increase in road fatalities registered with the Police in 2023, with 4,179 lives lost.

The death toll in road crashes increased by 30 per cent to 4,179 in 2023 from 3,210 in 2022, former Inspector General of Police Martins Okoth Ochola said at the launch of the report in February this year. 

“The figure in serious crashes increased to 12,487 in 2023 from 8,860 in 2022,” Ochola said.

At least 23,608 road crashes were recorded in 2023 compared to 20,394 cases registered in 2022, according to the annual report.

“There was a 15.5 per cent increase in common offences registered by the Directorate of Traffic and Road Safety countrywide from 456,993 cases registered in 2022 to 528,025 cases in 2023,” said the report.

To curb the alarming crash rates, the Police said they had resorted to enforcement of traffic laws and regulations through operations, targeting commercial motorcycle riders, commuter passenger taxis, and other risk factors such as speeding and drunk driving.