RUKUNGIRI – 16 people are confirmed to have sustained injuries in a bus accident that occurred at Rwabanyambo in Rukungiri town on Thursday morning January 2, 2020.
The bus registration number UAZ 321W belonging to High Way Coaches was heading to Kampala from Bwindi in Kanungu at around 9:00 am when it failed to ascend at Rwabanyambo slope along Kinyasano road in Rukungiri municipality and sloped down before it overturned.
The Kigezi regional police spokesperson Elly Maate said only six sustained serious injuries and were rushed to Nyakibale and Case Clinic in critical condition.
“The injured are many but we hope most of them will recover soon apart from six who sustained major injuries on head, chest and arms,” he said.
Maate attributed the accident to the poor mechanical condition of the bus.
Edson Turyamuboona, one of the passengers said she started feeling that she was not safe when they were still in Kanungu due to how the driver was driving in that bad road.
“I suspect that the driver was either drunk or very tired according to how he has been driving from Kanungu to here where we had an accident,” Tusingwaire said.
It’s alleged that driver jumped through front window before the bus overturned and was not injured at all. The bus was towered by police fire lorry to Rukungiri police station.
Evelyn Tusingwire, a mobile money agent along the accident scene road said the bus had almost completed climbing the slope and back-slide till it veered off the road and overturned.
“The bus was almost close to the top of the slope but it later started backward movement till when the driver tried to dodge hitting a boda boda cyclist and the bus overturned,” said Tusingwire.
According to the police report, the bus diver is still on the run.
