Police stuck with bodies of Bunyangabu fuel tanker accident

Fort Portal, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT  |  Rwenzori West police are stuck with the bodies of two of the four people who died in the fuel tanker accident in Bunyangabu district on Friday. The accident occurred after a South Sudanese registered fuel tanker Reg. No. SSD 558S destined for Kasese district lost control at Kasunganyanja trading center in Bunyangabu district and rammed into a Canter vehicle Reg. No. UBB 626X that was loading bananas.

The two vehicles went up in flames killing four people on the spot. 

A team from the Police Fire and Rescue Department from Fort Portal Tourism City almost took one hour to arrive at the scene along Fort Portal – Kasese road. Vincent Twesige, the Rwenzori West Regional Police spokesperson, the deceased’s bodies were taken to Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital.   

He says three of bodies had been burnt beyond recognition. Twesige says two of the bodies have been reclaimed by their relatives after matching their DNA.  The deceased have been identified as Reuben Tumushangye a resident of Kamwenge district and Yasin Ndyabahika, a resident of Hapuuyo Sub County in Kyegegwa district.  

Tumwesige, however, says no one has turned up to claim the other two bodies. He calls upon anyone with knowledge about the identities of the two victims to contact police. He says the driver of the canter and the owner of bananas that were being loaded sustained serious injuries and are still at Fort Portal regional referral hospital in critical condition but didn’t disclose their identities.

Asked about the whereabouts of the fuel tanker truck driver, the police spokesperson said they are uncertainty whether or not he is among the unclaimed bodies. Twesige explained preliminary police investigations show the accident happened after the fuel tanker failed to break on the slope.  

Fort Portal – Kasese road is currently under rehabilitation and a result lacks humps to check the speed of motorist. Twesige has cautioned drivers to ensure they observe the road signs and desist from speeding. Also, Kasunganyanja is one of the black spots along the Fort Portal-Kasese road.It has a slope and a corner, which normally inconveniences truck and bus drivers. In December, four people were killed in an accident at the same spot. The accident involved a lorry that was carrying cement from Kampala and a tipper lorry carrying stones. The driver of the lorry failed to brake and rammed into the incoming tipper lorry.  

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