KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Two buses and two other vehicles crashed early Wednesday on a highway in western Uganda, killing at least 63 people, police said.
Several other people were injured in the crash that happened after midnight local time on the highway to Gulu, a major city in northern Uganda.
Two bus drivers going in opposite directions attempted to overtake other vehicles and collided, according to police.
“In the process, both buses met head-on during the overtaking maneuvers,” the police statement said.
Fatal road crashes are common in Uganda and elsewhere in East Africa, where roads are often narrow. Police usually blame such accidents on speeding drivers. In August, a bus carrying mourners back home from a funeral in southwestern Kenya overturned and plunged into a ditch,
In Uganda, 5,144 people were killed in road crashes in 2024. That number rose from 4,806 in 2023 and 4,534 in 2022, according to official police figures, which show a worrisome rise in the total number of those killed or injured in road crashes in recent years.
Careless overtaking and speeding accounted for 44.5% of all crashes documented in 2024, the police’s latest crime report said.
“As investigations continue, we strongly urge all motorists to exercise maximum caution on the roads, especially avoiding dangerous and careless overtaking, which remains one of the leading causes of crashes in the country,” the police said in their statement after the latest crash.
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