Fourteen people, including the driver of a commuter taxi, have been killed in a head-on collision with a sand-laden truck at Kamuwunga trading centre along the Lwera swamp section of the Masaka-Kampala Highway in Kalungu district.
The crash occurred at about 11:40 pm on Monday, according to police. Police identified the taxi as a white Toyota Hiace, registration number UA 662AQ, driven by Abdul Karim Ssembatya, a resident of Masaka City, who died at the scene.
The second vehicle was a red Sino truck, registration number UBS 040F. Its driver fled the scene and remains at large. Preliminary police findings indicate that the taxi was travelling from Kampala to Masaka when it collided head-on with the oncoming truck.
According to police, the truck driver, who was transporting sand, attempted to avoid road humps installed on his lane due to ongoing road construction. In the process, he allegedly veered into the opposite lane and collided with the taxi, which was travelling on its correct side of the road.
The impact caused the two vehicles to lock together, with the heavily loaded truck pushing the taxi backwards for about 30 metres from the point of collision.
The deceased have been identified as Alice Gracious Alobo, 30, a resident of Opit Town Council in Omoro district; Moses Kizza, 30, of Kyetume in Kyotera district; Joanita Natondwa, 23, of Masaka city; Aidah Namajja, 52, of Masaka city; Lawrence Ssebuuma, 34, of Mabaale-Kifuufu in Kyotera district; Margaret Nabbosa, 36, of Zirobwe town council in Luwero district.
Others are Veronica Nabbulime; Nabbulime’s juvenile daughter; Kizza Moses, 27; Innocent Irora, 39, a resident of Kyegegwa town council and an employee of Coca-Cola Namanve plant; police sergeant Nabukeya, service number 44616, whose duty station had not yet been established; and two unidentified adult males.
Four people survived the crash. They include Edward Kaiga, 22, who was travelling in the Sino truck, two unidentified male occupants of the taxi and another unidentified man who was travelling in the truck.
The injured were rushed to Masaka regional referral hospital by a Red Cross ambulance, while the bodies of the deceased were taken to the hospital mortuary for postmortem examination.
Traffic officers from Masaka East, the Kalungu district police commander and other police personnel visited the scene, documented evidence and towed both vehicles to Lukaya police yard pending inspection by the inspector of vehicles.
Police have opened investigations and launched a manhunt for the truck driver, who remains on the run. The suspected cause of the crash is reckless driving by the driver of the Sino truck, police said.