MBALE – Ten people are confirmed to have died in a road accident involving a commuter taxi and a bus at Busembatia on Tirinyi-Mbale Road on Sunday evening.
The accident occured after the bus belonging to YY Coaches LTD, which was heading to Mbale had a head-on collision with a commuter taxi.
All the 10 passengers in the taxi are reported to have died on spot.
Mr Eratu Ojukuna, the Namutumba District Police Commander, blamed the accident on the bus driver who was reportedly trying to overtake.
The accident comes six days after a bus belonging to the same bus company overturned, killing two people on spot and leaving another 40 injured
The bus overturned on the Iganga-Bugiri highway last Monday evening.
The bus, registration number UAQ 906 T, belonging to Y.Y Coaches Ltd, was on its way from Kampala to Mbale when the accident happened at around 5pm. Some of the injured, who included university students, sustained broken limbs and were rushed to Iganga Hospital.
Some of the injured were identified as Victoria Nalubega, the principal Shalom school of nursing Mbale, Abdala Rajab, Gya Sadam, Kato Semu, Denis Joruva, MJ. South Korea, Michale Oryokot, Bryan Batenganya and Peter Wandera, all residents of Mbale municipality.
One of the dead was identified as Sakiya Wanda, a resident of Wanale division in Mbale municipality while another woman was not unidentified.
The officer in charge traffic at Iganga Central Police Station, Mr Rogers Nadenge, attributed the accident to speeding.
Witnesses said the driver of lost control as he attempted to avoid knocking a boda boda cyclist during a heavy rain downpour.
One of the survivors, Victoria Nalubega, said she was sleeping by the time the accident happened was shocked when she suddenly heard other passengers yelling at the top of their voices .
“I later discovered that there was trouble whenever I heard my head bang on the metals in the bus,” she said.
Nalubega said people who rushed to the scene searched the handbags and pockets of the survivors and the dead instead of offering help.
The spot where the accident occurred has a sharp bend that has of recent become a black spot for most road accidents.
The wreckage of the bus was towed to Iganga central police station while one of the deceased was handed over to relatives for burial.