Agency
The death toll from the Karuma Bridge accident is feared to have risen to seven after a truck plunged into the River Nile in Nwoya District on Tuesday morning.
The Fuso truck, reg No UAY 284Q, was transporting maize from Lelabaro Trading Centre in Omoro District to Central Uganda when it crashed at Karuma Bridge.
According to Kasule Ogwal, the Nwoya District Officer in Charge of Traffic, the truck had earlier been inspected at the Karuma–Pakwach junction before it hit the left side of the newly installed guard rail and plunged into the fast-flowing river.
Initial police reports had indicated that the truck was carrying three occupants.
However, new information from the Aswa West Police Spokesperson, David Ongom Mudong, shows that six people were on board at the time the vehicle left Lelabaro, including the driver and four loaders, all residents of Lelabaro Trading Centre.
Police have since received information that another woman may also have been in the vehicle, pushing the possible number of occupants to seven.
Mudong says the driver, Okello Jamal, was allegedly heavily intoxicated at the time of the journey.
One body has so far been retrieved, while the others are still missing.
Parts of the vehicle remain visible in the river as search and recovery efforts continue.
Meanwhile Security personnel stationed at Karuma Bridge has attributed fatal truck crash to speeding after a vehicle plunged into the fast-flowing River Nile, killing three occupants.
In an interview with Mega Fm, a Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldier deployed at the bridge said the driver was travelling at a very high speed and failed to brake while approaching the bend.
The soldier added that the driver may have suffered a mechanical failure or was possibly driving under the influence of alcohol
