One killed in Lira bus accident

ACCIDENT | DEATH | YY BUS

LIRA - A bus travelling from Kampala to Lira overturned, Saturday night at Loro Odika in Alutkot parish, Loro sub county in Oyam district, killing one person.

The deceased has been identified as Benson Benedict Asiimwe, a resident of Mubende district and died on reaching Pope John Hospital Aber in Kamdini sub county.

Six passengers are reported to have sustained serious injuries. John Okello and Nora Okata were rushed to Lira Regional Referral hospital in Lira city while the other two were taken to Aeromedical service Loro.

The officer in charge of traffic, Oyam district Sirvasco Apollo visited the scene of the accident immediately after getting the information.

Apollo said the bus registration number UBE 407K belonged to YY Bus company. 

He said the driver lost control of the bus and it overturned and rolled five metres away from the point where it hit a pothole. 

He said the bus was from Kampala heading to Lira, after making a stopover at the Kamdini police checkpoint, just after few minutes they heard of an accident.

He said the driver jumped off the bus and disappeared.

Police described the cause of the accident as reckless driving, overspeeding and poor status of the road.

The body of the deceased is still at Pope John hospital mortuary pending postmortem.

According to an eyewitness Jacob Ogwang, a resident of the area, the bus hit a pothole and lost control.

He called on the government to speed up with the construction of the Kamdini Lira road to save the life of people

The wreckage of the bus was towed to Loro police station pending investigation and inspection.