Nurse, patient burn to death after Kiruddu hospital-bound ambulance catches fire
The wreckage of the ambulance in which a nurse and a patient burnt to death in Bunyangabu District on May 11, 2022. PHOTOS/ ALEX ASHABA
What you need to know:
- The driver survived with injuries
- Traffic police statistics show 118 people were killed in road crashes between April 24 and May 4 this year. These 10-day road crash deaths translate into about 12 people losing their life every day.
A nurse and a patient on Wednesday burnt to death after an ambulance in which they were travelling exploded into flames in Bunyangabu District.
Rwenzori West police spokesperson, Mr Vincent Twesige, said the accident happened at Kicucu village, Kicucu parish in Kisomoro Sub County as the patient, identified as Robert Asaba, 53, a resident of Hamukungu in Lake Katwe Sub County, Kasese District was being evacuated to another hospital after referral.
The wreckage of the ambulance in which a nurse and a patient burnt to death in Bunyangabu District on May 11, 2022. PHOTOS/ ALEX ASHABA
“The incident happened along Kasese- Fort Portal road when an ambulance registration number UG 4191 M Toyota Land cruiser belonging to the Ministry of Health and attached to Kasese District Health Services, carrying a patient caught fire. Two people got burnt beyond recognition,” he said.
Mr Twesige said the fire started from the oxygen cylinder which was in the ambulance serving the patient.
He identified the deceased nursing officer as Peter Baluku, 36, attached to Bwera Government Hospital in Mpondwe, Lhubiriha Town Council.
He hailed from Rwenguba village in Ndongo parish, Nyakiyumbu Sub County, Kasese District, according to police records.
Deceased nurse: Peter Baluku, 36
Mr Twesige said the driver, Zamari Masereka, escaped with injuries following the 15:45pm accident. Masereka is said to have attempted to rescue the patient and the nurse but was overpowered by the fire.
Dr Benard Balyana, the director Kasese Hospital where Asaba had been admitted said he arrived at the health facility at 9pm on Tuesday but was on Wednesday afternoon referred to Kiruddu National Referral Hospital in Kampala for dialysis.
They then contacted Bwera hospital for an ambulance which arrived at around 1pm with the nursing officer on board.
When contacted, Bwera hospital administrator, Juliet Best Bakoko, told this publication on phone that "our ambulance was in a good condition. I can't tell what caused the fire.”
Police said four people who survived the fire are currently admitted to hospital.
The injured include Masereka, Asaba’s sister Jane Kabarisa, 42, his 25-year-old daughter Garvin Bagaya and another relative identified as Donah Kabahuma, 27.
Baluku is survived by a wife and three children.
The Ministry of Health senior public relations officer, Mr Emmanuel Ainebyoona, said emergency medical services department at the Ministry has sent a team to evacuate the causalities who survived with severe burns to Kiruddu National Referral Hospital where there is a specialized burns unit to handle severe burns.
“The exact cause of the fire is not known. Investigations will be conducted by experts to establish the cause,” he said.
12 people die in road accidents per day
Traffic police statistics show 118 people were killed in road crashes between April 24 and May 4 this year. These 10-day road crash deaths translate into about 12 people losing their life every day. The daily human slaughter on Uganda roads has 'stabilised' at 10 deaths per day.
Of these road deaths, 28 people died on the same day on May 4 after a Link bus plunged into a tea garden in Fort Portal on its way to Kampala and others died in a crash that involved three vehicles on Mbale-Tirinyi road.
