Police officers and railway line officials at the accident scene in Kireka, Wakiso District, yesterday. PHOTOs/Stephen Otage
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Soldiers injured in kampala city train accident
Kampala. Two soldiers were severely injured when a UPDF truck rammed into a passenger train in Kireka, a Kampala City suburb.
The injured, according to witnesses, lost their legs in the accident as people struggled to rescue them from the wreckage.
“There were four soldiers in the truck but two jumped off,’’ a witness said yesterday. Brig Flavia Byekwaso, the UPDF spokesperson, told Daily Monitor that the two soldiers were admitted to Nakasero Hospital.
She refuted claims that the soldiers were running away from a group of boda boda riders, who were pursuing them for allegedly knocking one of their colleagues dead.
Kampala Metropolitan deputy spokesperson Luke Oweyesigire identified the injured survivors as private Jackson Ocatri and David Oromanika. Mr Oweyesigire said police authorities were still investigating the cause of the accident.
Mr Abubaker Ocaki, the chief operations officer from Uganda Railway Corporation (URC), said the passenger train left Namanve Railway Station at 7:15am and arrived in Kireka at 7:30am.
As it approached the railway level crossing, the locomotive handler hooted several times to alert motorists and the level crossing guard also flagged down and stopped all motorists, but the driver of the lead pick-up refused to heed the warning.
A Police constable keeps guard at the Electoral Commission offices in Kampala. Security at the commission headquarters have been beefed up following an impending demonstration by the opposition parties who want the current leadership of the commission disbanded. Photo by Stephen Wandera
Residents around Kireka market tried in vain to pull out the accident victims until 10am when police arrived and rescued them from the wreckage.
Traders operating along Kafumbe Mukasa Road in downtown Kampala watch a truck suck water from the road on Wednesday. The traders staged a peaceful demonstration demanding Kampala City Council to fix the dilapidated road. Photo by Stephen Wandera
Many residents this newspaper spoke to blamed the driver of the UPDF vehicle.
