Death of 10 people in Kyenjojo bus crash a loud awakening call

By press time, a statement released by Mr Vincent Twesige, the Rwenzori West police spokesperson, said the deceased were passengers in the taxi travelling from Ntungamo District. Their bodies were still at Kyenjojo Hospital awaiting postmortem examination.

Kaihura Trading Centre is approximately 10 kilometres from Kyenjojo Town and 45 kilometres from Fort Portal City.

Mr Charles Baguma, the officer-in-charge (OC) of Kaihura Police Post, told this publication in an interview yesterday that at the time of the incident, a trailer and a truck that had mechanical issues were parked on the left lane of Fort Portal Road.

“The taxi driver was speeding after climbing the raised hill towards the trading centre. There is a sharp corner and he attempted to bypass a stationary trailer and a truck on his lane. However, there was an oncoming bus, and the taxi driver had crossed over into the bus’ lane,” he said.

Mr Baguma added: “It was around 4:30am when we received the information. When we arrived at the scene, we found that the taxi had rammed into the bus. The taxi driver, in his attempt to overtake the stationary vehicles on his lane, ended up colliding with the oncoming bus.”

The bus driver, Mr Ismail Amiru, corroborated the police officer’s statement.

“The taxi was speeding from the Fort Portal side. There was a parked fuel trailer on his lane, and he tried to overtake it, coming into my lane, he seemed hesitant to return to his lane because there was another parked Fuso truck. I initially thought he wanted to park on my side after seeing my bus approaching,” he said.

Mr Amiru added: “When I saw him coming closer without stopping, I decided to avoid him by giving him space to pass. Instead, he hit the front left part of the bus. The taxi had matooke (bananas) on its carrier, and during the impact, they broke the front glass of the bus. One front passenger in the bus sustained facial cuts.”

He added that the rest of the passengers were unharmed.

Mr Joshua Kule, a passenger on the bus,  said: “I saw the taxi colliding with our bus, we scampered for help as some of our colleagues jumped out. We began removing the dead bodies from the taxi; some were stuck inside. We woke up the nearby residents, who gave us an axe, and we started cutting parts of the taxi until we managed to remove everyone.”

He added that he was travelling with five other family members from Kampala, all heading to Kasese.

Yesterday, Mr Amon Musinguzi, who is related to one of the travellers who died in the accident, was among the people waiting to receive bodies of the victims at Kyenjojo hospital.

Mr Musinguzi explained that his deceased relative was heading to Hoima District to attend a burial ceremony.

“I stay in Kyenjojo, so today (Wednesday) we were heading to a burial ceremony in Hoima because we had lost a woman who was a family member. She had migrated to that side. Unfortunately, some of the people died before reaching there. Some of the deceased are from the same family, and others are relatives,” Mr Musinguzi said.

He added that those who survived the crash mostly had fractures in the leg, head, and chest. They were first treated at Kyenjojo hospital before being transferred to Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital for specialised care.

The police identified the deceased as James Byarugaba, Fred Rwobucence, James Tumwine, Bamuhiga Pio, Kamureba Najera, Noreda, Deus Machati, Rugurira, Moses Mashijja, and Moses Mugume, who was the driver of the taxi.

The police also released the names of the survivors who are currently nursing injuries: Medard Nsinikweri, Benjamin Natuhwera, and Fatima Tumwijukye.

The wreckage of the taxi was towed to Kaihura Police Post, while the bus remained parked at the roadside and was also towed by press time.

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