Police in Rukiga District have identified the victims who died in a fatal road accident involving a Trinity Bus, registration number RAT 597K, along the Mbarara–Kabale highway.
According to police, the deceased include Lubwama John Herbert (26), a resident of Kanyanya Village, Kawempe Division in Wakiso District, Habineza Alfred (30), a bus conductor and Rwandan national and Gadaffi, also a bus conductor and Rwandan national.
Police also confirmed the victims as Habiyaremye Ananias (44), the bus driver and a resident of Rwamagana District in Rwanda, along with three adult female passengers whose identities are yet to be established.
The Kigezi Region Police Spokesperson, Elly Maate, said the bus was traveling from Kigali, Rwanda, to Kampala when the accident occurred at Bukinda–Kakatunda along the Kabale–Mbarara highway.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the driver lost control while negotiating a slope, causing the bus to veer off the road, enter a water trench, and slide into a deeper trench.
Maate explained that as the bus slid, its door broke while passengers attempted to escape, resulting in three male passengers being crushed on the spot. Four other passengers, including the driver, sustained injuries.
Police have attributed the primary cause of the accident to over-speeding on a slope.
The scene was visited by the Rukiga District Police Commander (RPC) SSP Wabwire Alex, Regional Traffic Officer SP Mahad Juma, and officers from Rukiga Traffic led by ASP Rubango J. Bosco.
The injured victims were rushed to Kabale Regional Referral Hospital using a Ministry of Health ambulance, while the bodies of the deceased were taken to Kabale Hospital mortuary for postmortem examinations.
The wreckage was later towed and parked at Rukiga Central Police Station pending inspection by the Inspector of Vehicles (IOV).
