Amuria accident death toll rises to 13 after lorry plunged in swamp
AMURIA– 13 bodies of traders who died in a fatal motor accident after the vehicle they were travelling in plunged into Alomain Bridge along Alakaituk-Amuria road in Amuria district have been retrieved.
A Fuso lorry registration number UBA 670V, which was carrying traders and their merchandise, reportedly plunged into the swamp on Sunday at around 2:40am as the driver attempted to avoid a bus stuck near the poorly built small bridge.
The traders were on their way to Adipala weekly cattle market in Kapelebyong district while others were supposed to proceed to Orwamuge market in Kotido district, which both operates on Mondays.
According to police, the Fuso lorry had over 40 traders on board before the time of the accident happened.
The OC traffic Amuria central police station Samuel Muyamba told this reporter that out of the 40 plus traders, 12 reportedly died on the spot, while six others sustained critical injuries and were rushed to Soroti hospital where one died.
He added that the 12 bodies of traders were retrieved early morning by the police with the help of locals.
“As we were still at the scene retrieving the deceased, we received information that one of the six accident victims rushed to the hospital, died on Monday morning taking the death toll to 13 people,” said Muyamba.
The police have since then not established the particulars of the deceased.
Muyamba blamed the accident on overloading and the poor state of the bridge.
“The vehicle was load beyond capacity and we advise people not to overload so that in future we can avert this kind of accident, said.
The East Kyoga regional police spokesperson ASP Gregory Oscar Ageca, described the incident as disastrous.
“We condone with the families of the Bereaved who have lost these groups of entrepreneurial individuals. Inquiries into the accident shall continue,” he said.
ASP Ageca cautioned traders against travelling on trucks carrying merchandise.
“The traders should move in separate vehicles. But even then, the local government authorities should construct better bridges to avoid such accidents,” he said.
Meanwhile Moses Emabu, the Amuria district LCV chairperson blamed the accident on the laxity of traffic officers to impound overloaded vehicles and the failure of the central government to work on Soroti-Amuria which is in deplorable state.
“These traffic men even see the overloaded trucks but they leave them to pass,” he said an allegation the police refutes.
According to him, they have talked to the Uganda National Road Authority for years to work on Soroti-Amuria but they have failed.
The road starts at Soroti and continues north through Amuria, Kapelebyong and Abim and ends at Kotido covers a distance of approximately 192 kilometres.
The road is gravel surface and in poor physical state. It is prone to flooding, and, when it does, it adversely disrupts travel between Soroti and Kotido.
Meanwhile, the Manager Uganda National Road Authority [UNRA] Soroti branch Julius Olupot attributed the failure of the authority to work on Soroti-Amuria road and many others in the country to limited resources.
“It’s not our wish as Uganda National Road Authority to have bad roads but we are constrained by a limited budget,” he said.
According to the Amuria District Traffic Officer, Afande Apolot, this was the second accident, in a quarter, involving Adipala weekly market business persons, at Alomain bridge.
The victims
- kainza Lydia
- Mukonde Muhamed
- Katisi Sylvia
- Muduwa Margret
- Waniale Abdu
- Wadada Mustafa
- Mudoma twailu
- Namatovu hadija
- Nambozi Aisati
- Nambozo Hajara
- Nagudi Beatrice.
- Wegumba
- Recheal age not yet established died from Soroti hospital.
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