Three killed, dozens hurt in Kiruhura accident

By Fred Turyakira

Three people are confirmed dead and dozens others injured in a nasty accident involving a passenger bus and a ministry of health Nissan pick-up along Mbarara-Masaka highway in Kiruhura district.

The two vehicles are said to have collided head-on at Kanyaryeru on Sunday at around 3pm (EAT).

The Isuzu bus (UAH 882R), belonging to Jussy Company, was headed for Kampala before ramming into the smaller vehicle.

South-western regional traffic officer, Patrick Mungasa, told New Vision on phone that the bus was overspeeding, and could have been the cause of the afternoon accident.

According to Mungasa, the driver of the speeding bus failed to negotiate a bend before hitting the pick-up off the road. The failed maneuver forced the bus into a deadly somersault.

Two men and one male juvenile – all yet to be identified – died on the spot and several others aboard the bus sustained injuries.

They were rushed to Mbarara referral hospital by means of a police ambulance.

At the hospital, the situation was intense.

With the health facility short of beds, most of the survivors of the Sunday accident lay on the floor as they awaited medical attention.

Doctors worked swiftly to try and save their lives.

An eye-witness at the scene of accident said the pick-up car was “mingled by the bus” and he suspected that its [pick-up] occupants did not survive.

By press time, police reports showed that only three people had died.

The number could be more as the doctors at the hospital declined to reveal the number of the dead.

The medics also did not disclose how many survivors they had received at the hospital.

‘Over-speeding’

Although the actual cause of the accident has not been confirmed yet, it appears , from some survivor accounts, that it might have been the overspeeding bus driver.

One of the survivors, Mariam Nuwagaba Kyohairwe, sustained leg injuries and also complained of chest pains.

She is a business woman trading in handcrafts from Kyabandara, Sheema district.

She was travelling in the bus and said the driver of the bus was driving “abnormally” and all that she could remember was the bus swerving off the road and plunging into the bush.

Gift Nampa 25, a store keeper at Crown Beverages (Pepsi-Cola) in Lyantonde also said the driver of the bus was speed-driving. She survived with arm and chest pains.