Kampala driver kills three pupils
FOUR city residents, among them three pupils, were knocked dead as a motorist fled an accident scene yesterday. Ayat Tushabe, 8, Esther Nakanwagi, 8, Rashid Ssejange, 6 and James Mukwasi, a male adult, were victims of a morning rush-hour tragedy in Kinawataka, a city suburb.
By Herbert Ssempogo
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FOUR city residents, among them three pupils, were knocked dead as a motorist fled an accident scene yesterday.
Ayat Tushabe, 8, Esther Nakanwagi, 8, Rashid Ssejange, 6 and James Mukwasi, a male adult, were victims of a morning rush-hour tragedy in Kinawataka, a city suburb. Â
Willy Ssali, an LC official, narrated: “I was asleep when I heard a loud bang. I feared that my car was hit because I had parked near the road.
But I realised that Ssalongo Ashton, a traditional healer from Mutungo, had rammed into a car. He stopped briefly but he fired the engine and sped off towards Kireka.â€
According to other witnesses, Ssalongo reportedly lost control of his vehicle, a Toyota Mark II, and hit Tushabe, who was heading to school with Innocent Sserunkuma.
Three-year-old Sserunkuma, a cousin of Tushabe, who studies at Uganda Youth Aid, Mbuya, sustained broken limbs.
As the Police pursued Ssalongo, he knocked dead Ssejange, a Top Class pupil, and Nakanwagi, a P3 pupil. Both children were studying at Elgon Infant School in Kireka.
Ssalongo also knocked dead Mukwasi, said to be a father of four children.
After the vehicle halted, angry residents clobbered Salongo and an unidentified male passenger before setting the vehicle on fire. The Police rushed the two men to hospital.
Ssali said he had seen Ssalongo taking alcohol at a bar in Mutungo the previous night. Residents also said they saw beer bottles in the car.
There was an outpouring of grief at the three children’s homes located just metres from the road.
Sharifah Birungi had just seen off Ssejange and Nakanwagi when the accident occurred.
“I watched it all. Birungi collapsed shortly after the accident and was rushed to hospital,†the deceased’s grandmother narrated as she wailed uncontrollably.
Tushabe’s mother, Kasifa Nantongo, was also admitted due to shock.
Uganda has witnessed a sharp increase in the number of road accidents in the recent past, rising from 19,867 cases in 2007 to 22,699 in 2009.
The Police attributed the spike to growth rate of vehicular traffic which it said has outstripped the improvement in the capacity of both urban and rural roads.
           Â
FOUR city residents, among them three pupils, were knocked dead as a motorist fled an accident scene yesterday.
Ayat Tushabe, 8, Esther Nakanwagi, 8, Rashid Ssejange, 6 and James Mukwasi, a male adult, were victims of a morning rush-hour tragedy in Kinawataka, a city suburb. Â
Willy Ssali, an LC official, narrated: “I was asleep when I heard a loud bang. I feared that my car was hit because I had parked near the road.
But I realised that Ssalongo Ashton, a traditional healer from Mutungo, had rammed into a car. He stopped briefly but he fired the engine and sped off towards Kireka.â€
According to other witnesses, Ssalongo reportedly lost control of his vehicle, a Toyota Mark II, and hit Tushabe, who was heading to school with Innocent Sserunkuma.
Three-year-old Sserunkuma, a cousin of Tushabe, who studies at Uganda Youth Aid, Mbuya, sustained broken limbs.
As the Police pursued Ssalongo, he knocked dead Ssejange, a Top Class pupil, and Nakanwagi, a P3 pupil. Both children were studying at Elgon Infant School in Kireka.
Ssalongo also knocked dead Mukwasi, said to be a father of four children.
After the vehicle halted, angry residents clobbered Salongo and an unidentified male passenger before setting the vehicle on fire. The Police rushed the two men to hospital.
Ssali said he had seen Ssalongo taking alcohol at a bar in Mutungo the previous night. Residents also said they saw beer bottles in the car.
There was an outpouring of grief at the three children’s homes located just metres from the road.
Sharifah Birungi had just seen off Ssejange and Nakanwagi when the accident occurred.
“I watched it all. Birungi collapsed shortly after the accident and was rushed to hospital,†the deceased’s grandmother narrated as she wailed uncontrollably.
Tushabe’s mother, Kasifa Nantongo, was also admitted due to shock.
Uganda has witnessed a sharp increase in the number of road accidents in the recent past, rising from 19,867 cases in 2007 to 22,699 in 2009.
The Police attributed the spike to growth rate of vehicular traffic which it said has outstripped the improvement in the capacity of both urban and rural roads.