ACCIDENT: 42 students injured in Soroti

Soroti, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Forty-two students from Nabilatuk district were involved in a motor accident in Gweri Sub County, Soroti District, on Wednesday evening. The students were returning from different schools in Nabilatuk district in the Karamoja sub-region when the Fuso lorry they were traveling in overturned at Gweri Trading Centre around 4:00 pm.

The Fuso lorry, with registration number UBE 899C, was using a shortcut along the Katakwi-Soroti road via Toroma when the driver lost control and veered off the road. According to police preliminary findings, the driver tried to negotiate a corner at Gweri Trading Centre at high speed when he lost control of the truck.

Among the 42 injured were seven male adults, eight female adults, 17 girls, and 10 boys.”We have managed the scene and taken the injured students to Soroti Regional Referral Hospital. The motor vehicle has been towed to Soroti Central Police Station pending inspection by the IOV,” said Oscar Gregg Ageca, the East Kyoga Police Spokesman, in a statement.

URN has since learned that some injured students are from Arengesiep Secondary and Nabilatuk Township Primary Schools. Most of the students were heading to Serere district for the first-term holidays. Joseph Okias, a pupil of Nabilatuk Township Primary School, said that the accident was caused by the driver’s overspeeding. Okias, who was traveling in another vehicle, said that other drivers warned the affected driver of the affected car to slow down, but the man was reportedly adamant.

“We were traveling in four different cars that picked us up from school. Along the way, the affected car’s driver kept overtaking all other cars ahead of him, even after being warned by colleagues. He almost collided with us at the corner when his vehicle veered off the road,” Okias said. According to the police, the truck driver that caused the accident is currently on the run.

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URN