Ugandans dead in Sudan accident

Jun 17, 2011

17 Ugandans are among 29 passengers feared dead in an accident involving two buses in South Sudan.

By Tabitha Avola and Joseph Kizza

17 Ugandans are among 29 passengers feared dead in an accident involving two buses in South Sudan.

The tragic accident occurred Friday morning when two passenger buses collided along the Juba road in Pargera trading centre, 46km into South Sudan.

According to the police spokesman for the north Johnson Kilama, a Bakulu Company Bus collided with a Baby Coach bus. He did not have further details.

“We have information that several other people have been injured and have been taken to clinics in Sudan, but we don’t know how many yet,” said Kilama.

The border town of Juba in South Sudan has been host to over one million business people from Uganda who are living and working there.

Late last year, the Transport Minister for South Sudan Anthony Makana warned that road accidents were on the rise in Juba.

Makana revealed that the number of people dying from road accidents exceeded that of the people who die from HIV/AIDS.

The police have in the past blamed the soaring numbers of accidents on the poor state of the roads in Juba. Poor mechanical conditions of the vehicles, coupled with potholes on narrow roads have in the past been reported to cause most accidents.

This is not the first time Ugandans have lost their lives in Sudan.

Mid 2009, about 20 Ugandans died in an accident in South Sudan when a bus they were traveling in on their way back to Uganda overturned. The accident was blamed on an over-speeding driver.

Towards the end of 2007, over 20 Ugandans, believed to be traders, were reportedly killed in South Sudan over what was suspected to be a trade disagreement.

At the beginning of 2010, five Ugandan businessmen were said to be killed in violent clashes between police and protestors in the South Sudan town of Rumbek.

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