Five prisoners die as prisons truck overturns along Kampala-Gulu highway

The accident, according to the Traffic Police spokesperson, Faridah Nampiima occurred at 9 am at a place called Nalongo in Luweero district, which well known by locals to be a dangerous turning for vehicles.

This proved to be the case when a Prisons truck carrying 54 inmates from Butuntumula prison lost control and overturned, causing several deaths and injuries.

A grainy picture from the scene of the accident Pulse

“The accident happened when a Toyota Fielder moving from Gulu side had a tyre burst , lost control and rammed into an oncoming prisons truck and in trying to avoid the small vehicle, the truck overturned killing the five prisoners instantly,” Nampiima said.

She revealed that several other prisoners and Prisons staff who were also being transported on this very truck were severely injured during the accident and have since been admitted to Luweero referral hospital for medical attention.

The five dead prisoners were taken to the hospital mortuary for postmortem.

“The two vehicles have been towed to Luweero Central Police Station as investigations into the accident continue,” she said.

The accident is one of the many that have happened in the past few months, many of these accidents are attributed to tyre bursts.

These tyre bursts recall the need to check on the quality of tyres used on vehicles deemed road safe.

It has been noted by experts that a number of drivers buy retreaded tyres and use them on their vehicles but these are liable to burst and cause accidents.