Two people have been killed and one injured in a head-on collision in Kiruhura district, western Uganda.

The accident occurred on Friday along the Mbarara-Masaka highway in Sanga town council. It involved a Fuso lorry registration number UBB 905J from Masaka and another lorry UBG 727P loaded with matooke heading to Mbarara. 

Samson Kasasira, Rwizi Region police spokesperson identified the dead as Eric Mugabe, 48, a resident of Kyazanga in Lwengo district and Abubakari Gumisiriza – both drivers of the trucks. 

Bosco Karimunda, an eyewitness, says both drivers failed to negotiate a sharp corner they approached at high speed.

Kasasira says preliminary investigations point to reckless driving by both drivers, as the cause of the accident. 

According to the 2023 police report on accidents in Uganda, there was a significant increase in road crashes, with the total number of incidents rising by 16% from 20,394 in 2022 to 23,608 in 2023.

The report highlighted that 4,179 of these were fatal, leading to the deaths of 4,806 people, an increase from 4,534 deaths in 2022. The report also noted that 45% of the fatalities involved motorcycle riders and their passengers, while 37% were pedestrians.

These statistics underscore a growing crisis on Ugandan roads, with a nearly 70% increase in road crash fatalities over the past five years