More than 30 Kenyans are receiving treatment in hospitals in neighboring Uganda after their bus was involved in a road accident.
The passengers were on their way back from the Namugongo Martyrs Day celebrations when the bus lost control and overturned on Wednesday, June 4.
According to reports from the Nile Post, the accident took place at the UCI Cell in Osukuru Town Council, close to the Uganda-Kenya border. The bus, which was carrying 51 passengers and belongs to Kasima Mixed Secondary School, overturned during the journey.
Those injured in the crash are currently being treated at Tororo General Hospital in Uganda, as authorities continue to investigate the cause of the accident.
Eyewitnesses at the scene reported that the accident occurred as the bus tried to avoid a speeding truck.
“Both vehicles were traveling from Jinja toward Tororo,” one witness explained. “The truck was going at a high speed. When the bus driver attempted to give way, the bus swerved off the road and overturned.”
Charles Theuri, the bus driver who suffered minor injuries, shared that they had departed Namugongo Martyrs Shrine at 4 a.m. and were nearing the border when the crash took place.
“I was driving carefully the whole way from the Martyrs Day event. But as we got to this point, a speeding truck came from behind and sideswiped us while I was trying to make room on the narrow road. The impact pushed us off the road,” Theuri recounted.
Authorities confirmed that 35 passengers sustained injuries, ranging from minor to severe. Emergency teams responded promptly and transported the injured to Tororo General Hospital.
“We’re investigating the exact cause of the accident and working to identify and locate the truck and its driver,” said Tororo District Traffic Officer Aisat Nandutu.
The crash occurred less than 24 hours after a separate security scare in Uganda, where two people died in a foiled bomb attack.
According to the Ugandan military, the attacker was a woman released from military custody in 2023. She was later identified as the would-be suicide bomber targeting the Martyrs Day celebrations.
The suspect, referred to as Katushabe, had previously been arrested in October 2023 for suspected links to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group aligned with the Islamic State.
This is not the first tragedy to affect Kenyan pilgrims in Uganda—back in May 2019, four Kenyans were killed after being hit by a 14-seater matatu along the Iganga-Jinja highway.
