Grief as 5 prisoners die on spot as truck transporting them crashes

At least five inmates from Butuntumula prison have died on the spot and several others severely injured in an accident along the Kampala-Gulu highway. #News #UgandaNews #WhisperEyeNews #Accident

The deceased inmates are Elias Kizito, Mutwalibu Lugoolobi, Innocent Gumisirize, Umar Sentamu, and Ronald Nsubuga.

The accident occurred at around 10:00 am today Monday at Nalongo village in Luwero district. It involved a prison Tata truck, registration number, UG 0363U destined for Nakasongola and a Toyota Wish registration number, UBG 587W which was heading in the opposite direction.

The prison truck was transporting 54 inmates and 12 prison warders to undisclosed farms for manual labour. Livingston Twazagye, the Luwero district police commander (DPC), says that preliminary information from eyewitnesses indicates that the accident occurred after the Toyota Fielder sustained a tyre burst and lost control before it rammed into the prison truck forcing it to overturn.

Twazagye says that five inmates died on the spot whereas other inmates together and prison warders sustained injuries. He says that police transferred both the injured and deceased’s bodies to Luwero hospital. 

The driver of the Fielder escaped before police arrived at the scene. Salim Zimula, the area parish councilor has asked the prison authorities to stop transporting inmates on trucks to minimize accidents. He also said it was wrong for the authorities to continue subjecting inmates to manual labour especially when it was never originally handed to them by courts of law or if the suspects are still on remand.

He said the jail terms are already sentences and subjecting inmates to manual labour tantamounts to double punishment.

Moses Sentalo, the deputy prisons spokesperson asked for time to compile a report about the accident. On May 17, 2022, three people died the on spot, and nine others were injured in an accident involving a taxi in Migyera town council in Nakasongola along the Kampala-Gulu highway. 

The taxi registration number UAX 303F, which was traveling from Masindi to Kampala city also lost control and overturned after sustaining a tyre burst