Two dead, 13 injured after bus collides with trailer in Lwengo

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Two female passengers died on the spot, while 13 others sustained serious injuries and were rushed to hospital after a Kisoro-bound bus collided head-on with a speeding trailer.

Police said the accident occurred on Thursday, May 21, 2026, at about 3:45 am at Katuba village, about one kilometre from Mbiriizi trading centre in Masaka West region on the Masaka-Mbarara highway.

The Greater Masaka Police public relations officer, Twaha Kasirye, said two yet-to-be-identified female passengers travelling in a red Jaguar Coach bus, registration number UBS 454D, which was heading towards Kisoro near the Uganda-DRC border, died after the bus collided head-on with a trailer and overturned.

It is alleged that passengers, the majority of whom were asleep, woke up to screams as people cried for help after the bus overturned.

Kasirye blamed the accident on the trailer driver, whose vehicle, registration number RL 5993, was travelling from the Mbarara side towards Kampala.

He said police transported the bodies of the deceased and the injured passengers to Masaka Regional Referral Hospital for post-mortem examinations and treatment.

According to Kasirye, the injured included four women and nine men.

“The police condemns the habit of heavy truck drivers who drive at high speed at night, which we suspect could have caused the accident. Investigations are, however, ongoing,” he said, adding that efforts were still underway to tow the wreckage to Masaka Police Station.

Anthony Luwaga, the outgoing Lwengo District councillor for Mbiriizi town council, appealed to the government to consider expanding major highways to eliminate accident blackspots.

He said many accidents occur along the roads because they are narrow, yet they carry heavy transit cargo vehicles and long-distance buses that move at high speed.

“We also appeal to the 12th Parliament to consider increasing funding to the Ministry of Works and Transport to enlarge the roads and remove dangerous spots on our roads,” he said.