At least five people were confirmed dead and 19 others injured in three separate motor accidents in Uganda on Sunday

Two people died in one of the accidents at Bugembe Town council along the Jinja-Iganga highway in the east.

The accident happened when a lorry hauling a giant trailer veered off the road and knocked down three people, killing two on spot and injuring the other.

Jinja Central traffc officer Francis Onen confirmed the accident, saying two bodies of the deceased were recovered from a muddy swamp where the lorry's head rested on them.

Avoid colliding

Mr Onen said the accident may have been caused by an earlier one in which another lorry overturned in the middle of the road.

He said the driver of the second lorry must have been trying to avoid colliding with the first one when his vehicle went out of control.

“I can confirm two people have died on spot as result of an accident and one injured. The community is trying to help police to identify the bodies,” said Mr Onen.

Confirmed dead

The bodies were removed to Jinja Hospital mortuary.

Three other people were confirmed dead and two others seriously injured in an accident involving a vehicle and two motorcycles at Butangasi Village, Busia District, also in eastern Uganda.

The accident occurred when a vehicle which was coming from Busia Town along Majanji- Lumino road, collided with two motorcycles, killing three people who were travelling on one of them.

“The rider of one of the motorcycle and his two passengers died on spot. Their bodies have been taken to Dabani hospital for postmortem,” said the regional police spokesman, Mr Sowali Kamulya.

Slippery road

At least 16 people were left seriously injured in another road accident involving a Friends Bus Company vehicle at Kyalusowe Village, 7km from Masaka town, along Masaka-Kampala highway in the central region.

The accident occurred at around 9am (+3GMT) when the bus travelling from Bukoba, Tanzania to Kampala went out of control and overturned.

One of the victims, Bishop Francis Kaduyu of Agape Christian Church in Mukono, who was coming from Tanzania said the accident may have been due speeding on the slippery road.