More than 50 people were injured in an accident that occurred in Kanungu last night.
The accident took place along Enengo, the narrow and steep mountain pass that links Rukungiri and Kanungu districts. John Bainomugisha, the Rukungiri District Traffic Officer, says the driver of the ill-fated Perfect Coach bus failed to negotiate around one of the sharp corners causing the vehicle to slip. He says the bus that was traveling from Kihiihi in Kanungu to Kampala tumbled off the ledge and rolled down the hill.
No one was killed in the accident.
Bainomugisha says the injured were rushed to Nyakibale and Kambuga Hospitals. By early this afternoon 23 people were still in hospital 18 of them are in Nyakibale and four are in Kambuga Hospital.
The conductor of the bus, only identified as Ambrose, was rushed to Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital in critical condition.
Benjamin Kadet, of the Uganda Red Cross, says he participated in the rescue effort. He says many of the injured suffered fractures and others lost a lot of blood from their injuries.
Relatives of the injured people have flooded Nyakibale and Kambuga Hospitals to donate blood.
In the meantime the police are looking for the driver of the Perfect Coach bus.
Alfred Nkwasibwe, the Kanungu District Traffic Officer, says the driver will be charged with reckless driving.
Noredah Kyomuhendo, one of the accident victims, confirms that the bus driver was reckless. She says the driver was speeding through the narrow road despite the poor visibility on the road. She says she witnessed him turn to the back on several occasions to speak to passengers seated behind him.
Rev. Eunice Maririre, the parish priest of Kihiihi Church of Uganda, says that after the accident, people in the neighboring village descended on them and stole their property. Rev. Maririre, who is admitted in Nyakibale Hospital, says all her bags were stolen in the confusion.
