At least 20 students and one adult have died after a bus carrying schoolchildren on a study trip crashed in eastern Uganda, according to local officials, making it one of the country’s deadliest road accidents involving children in recent years.
The crash happened on Thursday evening in the Kapchorwa area, injuring dozens more, including staff members who were accompanying the pupils.
Local officials say preliminary investigations point to a mechanical fault that caused the driver to lose control on Chekwatit Hill, a stretch of road that has seen several serious accidents in the past. Police said the vehicle veered off the road after the fault developed, hit a large stone on the roadside, and overturned.
The bus was transporting students from King David Junior School in Ndejje and crashed at around 8pm local time (5pm GMT) in Chekwatit village, in the Kawowo area, police confirmed.
Minister of Local Government Balaam Ateenyi Barugahara, who visited the scene, said on X that 20 children and the school’s founder and director, Tadeo Ssekade, had died in the crash.
Eyewitness footage circulating online showed the extent of the damage to the bus, with local residents seen rushing to assist injured children at the scene.
According to local reports, the pupils were on their way back from a school trip to Sipi Falls, a popular tourist destination in the region.
Uganda continues to record thousands of road deaths annually, with traffic authorities pointing to speeding, poor vehicle maintenance and hazardous roads as the main contributing factors. This latest tragedy adds to growing concern over school transport safety, following a string of serious bus accidents reported across the country in recent weeks.
Discover more from LN247
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
