Mourners escorting fallen soldiers escape death

By Moses Kizito Buule

Traffic along Kampala-Jinja highway was Monday evening interrupted when a convoy transporting the remains of two of the seven Mt Kenya triple chopper crash victims ahead of Tuesday’s burials was involved in an accident.

The 6.00pm accident left no deaths among the traveling mourners in its wake.

But it is reported that one soldier was injured and rushed to Mulago hospital in Kampala in a critical condition.

The incident occurred a few miles before Mukono town.

Reports from the scene suggest that the driver of the Coaster (UAP 225F) which was transporting the relatives of the deceased and UPDF soldiers tried to overtake a trailer and ended up colliding with a Pick-up truck (UAJ 011M).

It is said the Pick-up truck was maneuvering a turn off the highway to the Mukono Court road when crash occurred.

Upon collision, witness accounts indicate that the rest of the speeding vehicles in the convoy then rammed into each other.

Some witnesses at the accident scene said that the driver of the Pick-up truck made a slow turn off the highway despite the loud hooting of the oncoming cars.

Still, the actual events that led to the accident cannot be independently verified by New Vision.

The traffic Officer-in-Charge of Mukono district, Annet Nakibuuka said the soldiers and relatives were transporting the remains of Sgt. Charles Lukwago and WO. David Kakube for burial in Nama (Mukono) and Namutamba respectively.

Nakibuuka said the damaged cars were towed to Mukono police station.

Sgt. Charles Lukwago and WO. David Kakube were among 28 highly specialized Uganda airforce soldiers that had set out for a mission in war-torn Somalia. When three of the four helicopterss sent for the mission crash-landed on Mt. Kenya, Lukwago and Kakube were among the seven soldiers confirmed killed.

All the bodies were flown back to Uganda last Saturday at the Entebbe military airbase. They were received by friends, family, colleagues and govt officials on a rainy afternoon.

The remains were then taken to Bombo military hospital for a post-mortem, ahead of a burial date set for Tuesday (today).

Click here for the detailed story of the return of the remains at Entebbe
 

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The Pick-up truck that collided with the Coaster bus along the Kampala-Jinja highway. PHOTO/Moses Kizito Buule

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The Coaster bus that went into a head-on collision wiht the Pick-up truck along the Kampala-Jinja highway. PHOTO/Moses Kizito Buule