Six people have died on the spot, and more than 37 people have been severely injured due to a head-on collision that happened on the Mbarara-Masaka highway road.
The tragic accident happened in the wee hours of Monday, August 19, 2024, at around 4:00 am in Kirumba LC I ward, Kyazanga sub-county in Lwengo district, when a bus belonging to Gateway that was coming from Kabale and was heading to Kampala had a head-on collision with a Fuso truck that was coming from Kampala and was heading to Mbarara.
According to the passengers of the Gateway bus, registration number UBQ 621Z, both the Jaguar and Gateway buses were coming from Kabale and heading to Kampala. However, the drivers were competing with each other on the road at a high speed, so when the Gateway bus finally overtook the Jaguar bus, resulting in a head-on collision with the Fuso Fighter truck registration number UBM 673K that was coming from Kampala and was heading to Mbarara.
The onlookers added that after the accident happened, the Jaguar bus driver did not stop to give a hand to the injured people in the Gateway bus, yet the accident was caused by the recklessness of both bus drivers.
One of the passengers identified as Kangave said that many people were severely injured with broken bones, arms, and legs, and some of them were taken to different hospitals unconscious and in a critical state, adding that there might be more fatalities soon.
Kangave further revealed that the driver of the Fuso truck who was carrying maize flour to Mbarara was in his lane, adding that it was the Gateway bus driver that caused the accident.
’’The people responsible and who should be blamed for this accident are drivers of the Gateway and Jaguar buses because the Fuso truck driver was driving in his lane when the Gateway bus driver had a head-on collision with the Fuso truck,’’ Kangave disclosed.
The deceased were taken to the Kyazanga Hospital mortuary, while the survivors were taken to hospitals in Kyazanga, Lyatonde, Masaka Regional Referral Hospital, and a clinic near the Kyazanga Modern Primary School dispensary.
