Six police officers, two civilians injured in deadly Nwoya road accident

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Six Field Force Unit – FFU police officers attached to the integrated highway detach at Ayago in Nwoya district are hospitalized at Anaka government hospital following a nasty road accident.

The accident occurred on Tuesday morning next to Agung trading centre, about 22 kilometers from Karuma falls bridge. The injured are Simon Peter Okot, Kenneth Odong Oloya, Joseph Okada, Angella Afegu Aringa, Albino Olal and Moses Ochan, all police constables.

The Aswa River Region Police Spokesperson, Jimmy Patrick Okema says the accident occurred after a commuter taxi registration number UAW 617K destined for Arua city bumped into the rear of the moving police patrol truck registration number UP 4844.

He says the commuter taxi with 13 passengers on board veered off the road injuring two occupants one of them seriously and has since been identified as Mahmood Omwa. This is the fifth deadly road accident in the district since the beginning of this year.

In January, five people were killed and 13 others injured after a speeding Arua bound taxi burst a tire around the same area in Purongo sub-county. In October, a 16-year-old boy died and 12 others were injured after their taxi also had a tyre burst.

Police statistics indicate that Uganda records at least 20,000 road accidents each year with over 2,000 deaths putting it among countries with the highest traffic death rates. The accidents are usually a result of overloading, reckless driving, speeding and drunk driving, according to police records.

*****

URN