Four students die in Hoima road crash
The wreckage of the car that knocked four students dead along Hoima-Kaiso-Tonya road on July 4, 2022. PHOTOS/ ALEX ASHABA
What you need to know:
- The victims were all interns at Core Woods limited company in Hoima District.
- The students were knocked from behind by a speeding Toyota Wish at around 7am near Kyamukunjuki trading center in Kitoba Sub County as the rider of the motorcycle (one of their colleagues) they were travelling on attempted to cross the road.
- The driver is said to be on the run.
Four students of Nyabyeya Forestry College in Masindi District died Monday after they were run over by a speeding car along Hoima-Kaiso-Tonya road.
Alavis Amanyire from Kabale District, Darius Talemwa from Rukungiri District, Jackson Biryabalema from Kabale District and Onesmus Owomugisha from Hoima District were riding on a motorcycle to Bujawe forest in Kitoba Sub County in Hoima District to cut trees as part of their field training at Core Woods limited company where they were attached for internship when the accident happened.
The students were knocked from behind by a speeding Toyota Wish at around 7am near Kyamukunjuki trading center in Kitoba Sub County as the rider of the motorcycle (one of their colleagues) they were travelling on attempted to cross the road.
"The one who was riding tried to cross the road without checking what was coming from behind. The car rammed into their motorbike and they all died on the spot," one of the eyewitnesses, Mr Isaac Mwesige, told this reporter.
Owomugisha’s father, Mr William Byakagaba said his son had spent only two weeks interning at the company.
The Albertine region police spokesperson, Mr Julius Hakiza said police are hunting for the driver who is on the run.
"The driver took off after causing the accident and we have started looking for him. Our preliminary investigations indicate that the road crash was caused by the reckless driver who was speeding," he said.
The bodies of the students were taken to Hoima City mortuary pending postmortem. The wreckage of motorcycle and car were taken to Hoima police station.
Police statistics
Uganda has continued to register high rates of accidents. Between 2006 and 2016, road crash fatalities increased by 25.9 percent (from 2,597 to 3,503) with the accident severity index of 24 people killed per 100 road crashes.
In 2019, 18,426 casualties were registered from road traffic accidents with Careless driving being the leading cause of road accidents (40 percent) and about 28 percent of road accident crashes occurred between 4-8pm, a time when critical health care services are slowing down.
The recent police crime report on traffic and road safety for 2021 shows that 3,757 people died in road accidents between January and December 2021, compared to 3,269 in 2020. The same report shows that 9,070 people were critically injured in road accidents in 2021compared to 5803 in 2020. In 2021, 17,443 road accidents were recorded compared to 12,249 registered in 2020.
Ten people die daily in road traffic accidents, which is the highest rate in East Africa.
A 2016 study by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), USA found that crashes due to human error account for anywhere between 94 percent and 96 percent of all auto accidents.
