'Head-on' bus collision kills 46 people in Uganda

Two buses collided on a major highway in Uganda early on Wednesday, killing 46 people and injuring several others, police said, in one of the worst motor accidents in the East African country in recent years.

The east African country has a notorious road safety record, frequently recording bus or truck accidents along poorly maintained highways.

The latest incident occurred on the Kampala-Gulu highway in Kiryandongo district just after midnight, when two buses "met head-on during the overtaking manoeuvres", police said in a statement posted on X.

One of the drivers swerved in an attempt to avoid a collision, but instead caused "a chain reaction" which led to at least four other vehicles, including a truck and a land cruiser, "losing control and overturning several times", the statement said.

People gather at the scene of a multiple vehicles collision near Gulu, northern Uganda. AP

In an initial statement police, put the toll at 63 but later revised the number of dead down to 46, explaining: "At the time of the crash, several victims were found unconscious, and some may have been mistakenly included in the initial fatality count."

Police initially gave the death toll as 63 in a statement sent to reporters, but later revised it to 46, saying in another statement that some people found unconscious at the crash scene were actually still alive. "At the time of the crash, several victims were found unconscious, and some may have been mistakenly included in the initial fatality count,” the statement said.

A bus involved in a highway collision near Gulu, northern Uganda. AP

Several others were injured in the crash that happened after midnight local time on the highway to Gulu, a major city in northern Uganda.

Two bus drivers going in opposite directions attempted to overtake other vehicles and collided near the town of Kiryandongo, according to police.

Wreckage of a bus involved in a highway collision near Gulu, northern Uganda. AP

"In the process, both buses met head-on during the overtaking maneuvers,” the police statement said.
Fatal road crashes are common in Uganda and elsewhere in East Africa, where roads are often narrow.

Police usually blame such accidents on speeding drivers. In August, a bus carrying mourners back home from a funeral in southwestern Kenya overturned and plunged into a ditch, killing at least 25 people and injuring several others.

The death toll in the latest crash in Uganda is uncommonly high, said Irene Nakasiita, a Red Cross spokeswoman who described victims left bleeding with broken limbs. She said the images from the scene were too gruesome to share. "The magnitude of this incident is so big,” Nakasiita said.

Agencies