One person has been confirmed dead while 12 others are nursing severe injuries after a bus they were traveling in knocked an elephant along the Karuma-Pakwach Highway in Nwoya District.
The crash involving a Baby Coach bus registration number UBB 584K happened on Tuesday evening, at about 7:20 P.m., some eight Kilometers from Karuma Junction within the Murchison Falls National Park.
Police reported that the driver of the bus, identified as Patrick Kilama Kony while driving to Yumbe district from Kampala met a herd of elephants crossing the road, but in an attempt to dodge them, knocked one of the elephants before veering off the road.
Aswa West Region Police Spokesperson David Ongom Mudong said in a statement Wednesday that the driver lost control of the vehicle which later overturned killing one passenger on the spot. Mudong identified the deceased as 25-year-old Denis Tokuru.
The 12 injured passengers were identified as John Matovu, Kivumbi Najib, Moris Bayo, William Oroch, Hellen Ayikoru, Margarete Nyuta, Charity Oyungrwot, Santos Komakech, Jude Komakech, Paska Achieng, Doreen Munguchi, and Abdullah Razak.
They were all rushed to RG Hospital in Karuma Town Council where some of them are currently receiving medical treatment. Mudong however says the deceased body by press time was still trapped beneath the crushed bus adding that the police were still waiting for a crane to lift the bus for the remains to be retrieved. He attributed the road crash to speeding by the bus driver.
