Lwengo car crash victims named

Victims of the Friday afternoon motor crash at Kyoko Village, Lwengo District on the Masaka-Mbarara highway has been named by traffic police.

At least nine people, including two children, died Friday following a road crash at a neglected blackspot along the Masaka-Mbarara highway in Lwengo District in central Uganda.

The head-on collision that happened in the evening at Kyoko Village involved a Toyota Alphard from Kampala that was headed towards Mbarara City and an oncoming fuel tanker on a climbing lane from Mbarara side.

All the deceased were occupants of the ill-fated Toyota Alphard which was being driven by Mercy Nakaweesa. Other victims include; Eng. Francis Bbaale, the water network manager at National Water Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) Bwaise Branch who was also the husband to Nabaweesa, Samuel Mutyaba, also a staff of NWSC, Wycliff Kabugo a brother to Nabaweesa, Joseph Sserunkuma a neighbour to Bbaale, Chris Ntege an engineer with Uganda Breweries Ltd and his wife Cindy Butesi together with their two children – Jaiden Ntege, Jiana Ntege. Traffic police attributed the cause of the crash that left two other people injured, to reckless driving.

“Preliminary findings indicate that the Alphard driver was at high speed and was keeping right (instead of left). The Alphard driver crashed head-on with the fuel tanker, killing nine people on spot,” the traffic police spokesperson, Ms Faridah Nampiima said.

The driver of the fuel tanker and his turn man sustained minor injuries and were briefly admitted at Masaka Regional Referral Hospital before being transferred to Kampala hospitals.

According to Mr Yiga Bawakana, a relative of Bbaale, the deceased was going to Isingiro District to celebrate Easter with Ntege’s family.

“Ntege was a close friend of Bbaale. He moved with his family in their car from Mbalwa in Kira Municipality and drove to Bbaale’s home in Kawanda where he left the car. Both families chose to travel in one car, but unfortunately, they never reached their destination,” he said.

According to the Annual Crime Report 2022 which was released a month ago, the country registered 20,394 cases of road accidents in 2022 compared to 17,443 registered in 2021. The Police said that out of every 100 crashes, 22 people died while 61 per cent of all accidents were as a result of reckless driving, the police said.