Police truck kills two on the spot, leaves more injured in a road accident in Nsambya

Police has confirmed an accident that occurred at the Nsambya Sharing junction along Ggaba road that killed two and left more injured and in critical conditions.

Luke Oweyesigire, the Kampala Metropolitan deputy Police Spokesperson confirmed by press time on Thursday that a police officer, Corporal Achaca who was driving under the influence of alcohol caused the accident.

“Investigations are ongoing to ascertain the exact cause of the accident. So far, we have confirmed that our officer Corporal Achaca, was driving under the influence of alcohol and caused an accident that led to the death of individuals only identified as Bakulumpagi and Abdul Hakim. Bodies of the deceased have been conveyed to Mulago mortuary for postmortem as we too, ascertain the conditions of victims who have been taken in critical conditions,” Oweyesigyire noted.

The Hino truck registration number UP 5638 failed to brake thus rammed into a threesome of motor vehicles registration numbers UAS 427S, UAX 851J and UBD 944J and three motorcycles which all had passengers.

According to a one Rogers Kabogooza, a rescuer, the truck failed to brake thus ramming into the motorcycles that drove close to it ahead. “A heavy police truck failed to brake yet there was traffic jam thus ramming into all the people that were driving close to it. All those that died and sustained injuries were on boda bodas whereas those in the cars never got any harm except the cars they were driving in,” Kabogooza said.

Quoting from some of the boda boda riders who survived and were found staged near the accident spot, ‘The driver got off the driving lane and failed to brake down as he tried to speed up from the traffic jam and tried getting back onto the driving lane’.

This comes nearly a month after when the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) unveiled the road safety strategy that seeks to reduce accidents and traffic fatalities in Kampala by 50 per cent by 2030.

This seeks to achieve safety for all road users and is in line with the country’s commitment to the second United Nations Decade of Action for road safety 2021-2030.

At least 2,634 pedestrians and cyclists were killed on Uganda roads for the last four years between 2016 and 2019.

Of the over all 25,663 road crashes reported in the Uganda’s Annual Crime Report for 2019; 3,000 accidents were registered in Kampala alone.

In fine, for a number of accidents that have occurred due to reckless driving, driving under the influence of alcohol and other factors, drivers and all road users ought to observe road signs and regulations. Perhaps, we could see the tail end of these unpleasant occurrences!