JINJA – Five people were confirmed dead on Tuesday evening following a road that occurred in Njeru Municipality, along the Kampala -Jinja highway.
The accident involved a Mbale bound commuter taxi Reg. No. UBL 838U and a Fuso truck Reg. No. UBB 895H, which was ferrying cement to Kayunga district to Jinja. It is said that the Fuso driver lost control, ramming into a commuter taxi, about 500 metres, away from the Nile Bridge.
Two passengers of the taxi were pronounced dead at the scene while three others died on arrival at the Jinja Hospital’s emergency ward. Seven others sustained serious injuries, according to Hellen Butoto – the Sezibwa Regional Police Spokesperson. The taxi had 15 people on board, 14 of them passengers travelling from Kampala to Mbale.
Robert Musisi, one of the eyewitnesses blamed the accident on the absence of a strategic roundabout and traffic lights at the junction connecting the old and new Nile Bridges. Ruth Namande, a roadside fruit vendor in the area said the Nile stage junction had become a black spot – owing to the numerous numbers of accidents in that particular place.
Patrick Isiko, a motorcyclist argued that Kayunga road largely attracts heavy traffic from the old Bridge, Nile Bridge and the Jinja – Kampala highway, which over time causes congestion along the main junction. He noted that there was an urgent need for redesigning the road as a means of regulatory accidents.
Butoto said that the truck driver, currently on the run, was; according to preliminary findings responsible for the accident as result of his reckless driving habit. Butoto noted that police were tracing families of the deceased persons.
