Source:Xinhua Published: 2019/5/20 21:36:52
At least five people were killed on spot and 15 others critically injured in a Sunday night road accident in the eastern Ugandan district of Soroti, a police spokesperson said Monday.
Michael Odongo, East Kyoga regional police spokesperson, told Xinhua by telephone that the fatal accident occurred after a driver of a truck carrying over 70 mourners avoided a head-on collision with another truck transporting oranges and overturned at Opiyai village, along the Soroti-Serere road at around 10:30 p.m. local time.
He said the mourners were returning from the eastern district of Kapelebyong to Serere where they had gone for a relative's burial.
"The accident was a result of reckless driving and overloading. The people who were overloaded fell off as the driver avoided the head-on collision," said Odongo.
The spokesperson said the critically injured were rushed to Soroti Regional Hospital for medical care.
Odongo warned drivers to avoid reckless driving, drink driving and speeding, which are the major causes of road carnage in the east African nation.
Uganda registers about 20,000 accidents each year, with some 2,000 deaths, making it one of the countries with the highest traffic death rates, according to police statistics. Enditem
