23 passengers injured in Link bus accident

Mubende, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | 23 people have been injured in a bus accident in Mubende district. The accident involving a Link bus occurred at Gwanika along the Fort Portal-Kampala highway.

The incident ocurred around 2:00am when a bus belonging to Link Bus Company registration number UBF 967K lost control and overturned. The bus was coming from Bwera in Kasese district and heading to Kampala.

Amos Atamba, a traffic police officer at Mubende police station, says that the accident could have been caused by smoke from a plywood factory in Nabbingola. He explains that the smoke had covered the road and the driver tried to avoid a head-on collision with an oncoming truck, but the bus overturned.

The passengers sustained serious injuries and were rushed to Mubende hospital and others to private health facilities for treatment.

Police have since identified some of the injured as Precious Tumwinyare, Wilson Asaba, Walter Muhindo, Cissy Isingoma, Eden Katungo, Denis Bwambale, Kennedy Mumbere, Gerald Byomuhamgi, and Boniface Babala.

Others are Hope Abraham, Amon Akugizibwe, Angel Birungi, Esther Kavira, Musa Farouk, Kombi Mugoya and Bwambale Celestine.

Last year, 25 people perished in a fatal accident involving a Link Bus at Sebitoli along the Fort Portal-Kampala highway in Busoro sub county.

Following the crash, a joint team comprising Ministry of Works officials, the police, and the Uganda National Roads Authority-UNRA was established to find out the cause of the accident.

According to the findings, the cause of the accident was overspeeding. Although the driver of the bus Paul Ssempagala had over 20 years of experience with no recorded crash history or reckless driving, the findings noted that he was captured by police CCTV moving at a speed of 99km per hour above the prescribed speed limit of 80 kilometers per hour.

The driver was also captured driving with one arm while the other holding an object suspected to be a phone.

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