Tragedy as three pupils are killed in Mbale road crash

Three pupils were Wednesday morning killed in an accident along Mbale-Tororo highway as they walked to school.
The pupils- Jane Wasike, 3, Grace  Wasike, 12, and Shakira Namugosa, 9, died on the spot after they were hit by tyres of a Sino truck that deterred from the axle at Hash Fuel station. The vehicle was coming from Tororo heading to Soroti.
Jane and Grace, biological sisters were pupils of Nabuyonga Primary School in Primary One and Four respectively and Shakira was a Primary Three pupil at Malukhu Primary School.
Other pupils, most of them of whom study at Nabuyonga and North Road Primary Schools sustained minor injuries, according to eye witnesses, who described the incident as tragic.
The Elgon regional police spokesperson, ASP Rogers Taitika said the driver, identified as Geoffrey Lukenge has been arrested. 
“We have taken the errant driver into custody for knocking three pupils dead in a Wednesday morning road crash that left two others injured,” Mr Taitika, said.
 
Mr Taitika appealed to parents and the public to avoid sending children to cross busy highways and roads alone.
“We still have also motorists who do not respect the highway code and are partly to blame for several road accidents, ” Mr Taitika, said, adding the bodies of the deceased pupils were taken to Mbale City mortuary pending postmortem.
Mr Aisha Akello, a food vendor, said the driver of the killer truck was trying to overtake another vehicle at the fuel station when the two tyres were deterred and hit the pupils who were walking in on pedestrian lane. “It was a sad moment and so painful to the parents, we pray that the families get justice,” Ms Okello, said.
Ms Grace Irene Kabuni, the Nabuyonga Primary School head teacher, said it was unbelievable that her pupils died in the nasty accident.
“We rushed to the scene when we received shocking news only to find the bodies had already been taken to Mbale referral hospital,” Ms Kabuni, said.
Ms Susan Nambozo, an aunt of the two deceased sisters, said it was a double tragedy to the family. “It’s a painful moment. The deceased were brilliant daughters.”
The spot near Hash fuel station has turned into a dark spot for pedestrians for a while now.
At least 200 people were reported dead in road crashes in Uganda in just two weeks, 37 of whom were killed in the Easter holiday.
Ms Faridah Nampiima, the traffic directorate spokesperson told journalists in a Tuesday press briefing in Kampala that 860 road crashes happened between March 26 and April 10, 2023.According to her, traffic officers registered 76 road crashes countrywide, of which 28 were fatal, 40 were serious and eight were minor.
“The 76 road crashes had 113 road victims, 37 victims died and 76 sustained injuries during the Easter holidays,” she said.
According to the Police annual crime report of 2022 which was released last month, the country registered 20,394 cases of road accidents in 2022 compared to 17,443 registered in 2021. The Police said 61 per cent of all accidents were as a result of reckless driving.