UGANDA, KITGUM: At least 13 people were seriously injured in a road accident in Kitgum Municipality’s Ayul Cell, Pager division. (In a Kitgum road accident – a vehicle rams into vendors – injuring 13 people)
The accident occurred on Sunday evening when a Toyota Premio with the registration number UAM 825S lost control, swerved off the road, and rammed into a group of roadside vendors selling cassava along the pedestrian lane pavements connecting Pager Bridge to Ayul in Pager Division.
Vicky Achiro, Grace Auma, Filda Amony, Margret Akech, and Florence Adokorach, all cassava vendors, and Faith Achiro, Prisca Arwot, Angel Aketowanga, and another only identified as Lanyero, all juveniles who had accompanied their mothers to the roadside market, were among those injured.
CPL Emmanuel Eyoma, a records officer attached to Kitgum Central Police Station, and Peace Akumu, a student at Kitgum Modern Vocational Institute, were also injured. Both were believed to be walking past the market when the tragedy occurred.
The victims, some of whom are critically injured, are being treated at Kitgum General Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital Kitgum.
The driver of the vehicle, identified as Emmanuel Can-Kura, a mechanic and resident of Parbongo Cell in Pager division, is being held at Kitgum Central Police Station, according to Deputy Officer in Charge of Traffic Robert Onen Bright. According to Onen, the accident could have been caused by careless driving.
The incident follows Kitgum Municipal authorities’ failed attempt in May to evacuate roadside vendors due to concerns that the vendors were a danger to themselves and other road users. (In a Kitgum road accident – a vehicle rams into vendors – injuring 13 people – celebrity jazz ug)
