Truck kills 7 in Masaka
Nov 25, 2005
FIVE people died on the spot and two others died in Masaka hospital yesterday when a truck had a tyre burst and rammed into a group of people in a bus-stop shelter at Kyabakuza trading center, three kilometers on Masaka-Mbarara road.
By Eddie Ssejjoba
FIVE people died on the spot and two others died in Masaka hospital yesterday when a truck had a tyre burst and rammed into a group of people in a bus-stop shelter at Kyabakuza trading center, three kilometers on Masaka-Mbarara road.
The police said 21 people were taken to Masaka Hospital, seven of them were in critical condition by press time.
Masaka district police commander Martin Amoru said the truck, carrying chicken mesh, veered off the road after one of its tyres burst and crushed into a busy shelter at about 7:40am.
He said it crushed the shelter, a newspaper stall, a telephone booth and plowed into women roasting gonja (bananas) and meat, many of whom were severely burnt.
Amoru identified one of the dead as Abdul Mugerwa, a taxi guide working with MATODA, a taxi organisation. He was assisting passengers to board buses.
Another was Maria Bukenya, a Kirumba LC official, who was going for a wedding of her daughter-in-law in Kigali, Rwanda.
He said three female adults, one male aged about 25 years and a juvenile aged about four years, had not yet been identified.
Relatives identified three of the deceased as Halima Nansubuga of Kyazanga, Nalongo, and Pasikazia Namwanje.
The rest of the dead could not be immediately identified by the Police.
Amoru said the unidentified driver, who fled after the incident, was speeding through a busy trading center. The OC traffic, Jessca Kabasindi, said most victims were waiting for transport to Mbarara, while others were taxi guides and food vendors.
FIVE people died on the spot and two others died in Masaka hospital yesterday when a truck had a tyre burst and rammed into a group of people in a bus-stop shelter at Kyabakuza trading center, three kilometers on Masaka-Mbarara road.
The police said 21 people were taken to Masaka Hospital, seven of them were in critical condition by press time.
Masaka district police commander Martin Amoru said the truck, carrying chicken mesh, veered off the road after one of its tyres burst and crushed into a busy shelter at about 7:40am.
He said it crushed the shelter, a newspaper stall, a telephone booth and plowed into women roasting gonja (bananas) and meat, many of whom were severely burnt.
Amoru identified one of the dead as Abdul Mugerwa, a taxi guide working with MATODA, a taxi organisation. He was assisting passengers to board buses.
Another was Maria Bukenya, a Kirumba LC official, who was going for a wedding of her daughter-in-law in Kigali, Rwanda.
He said three female adults, one male aged about 25 years and a juvenile aged about four years, had not yet been identified.
Relatives identified three of the deceased as Halima Nansubuga of Kyazanga, Nalongo, and Pasikazia Namwanje.
The rest of the dead could not be immediately identified by the Police.
Amoru said the unidentified driver, who fled after the incident, was speeding through a busy trading center. The OC traffic, Jessca Kabasindi, said most victims were waiting for transport to Mbarara, while others were taxi guides and food vendors.