In a Wednesday morning car accident in Masaka City, one person perished instantly and seven others were injured.
The accident occurred on Yellow Knife Road near Soweto Cell Round About in Masaka City when the driver of a trailer with a Kenyan licence plate carrying bunches of bananas destined for Masaka Central market neglected to apply the brakes and collided with an electric pole.
At the time of the accident at 5 a.m., according to witnesses, the driver of the trailer was attempting to stop at the central market to unload the bananas, but the vehicle failed to decelerate, crashing into an electric pole.
“If it had struck the transformer near the electric pole, the entire area would have caught fire. The electricity was out for a few hours, but was later restored.” One of the witnesses, Mr. Paul Mwanje, stated that the police also responded promptly and transported the injured individuals to the hospital.
Mr. Kato Kasarani, the driver of the Red Cross ambulance that rushed the survivors to Masaka Regional Hospital, said he arrived on the scene in time, but it was too late to save the collision victim.
Mr. Hussein Mugarura, the chief of police for the city of Masaka, stated that the electric chain saw was used to remove the imprisoned banana merchants.
The spokesperson for the Traffic Police, ASP Faridah Nampiima, identified the deceased as Rebecca Namanda, a resident of Nyendo, Masaka City, whose body was transported to Masaka Mortuary for an autopsy.
This latest collision occurred just six days after two separate collisions in neighbouring Lwengo and Masaka districts claimed the lives of at least 10 individuals.
