By Charles Etukuri
The Police on Saturday June 11, 2022 said they had identified the victims of Friday evening accident at the Nile Avenue Subway involving a taxi registration number UAW 987Y at Radio One village in which two people were killed and several injured.
Faridah Nampiima, the Traffic and Safety Directorate Spokesperson, said those who were injured had been admitted at different health facilities in the city.
“The victims have been identified as Patience Namusiima, Prossy Nakito, Fortunate Nasasira, Carolie Nampija, Grace Bigo, Nashiba Nalukwago, Teddy Akello, FaithKyakuwa, Rachael Abiel and Alex Gumusiriza. They remain admitted at Mulago and Kibuli hospitals respectively.
One body remains unidentified while the second one has been identified as that of Richard Banyonyi,” Nampiima said.
She said the driver of the vehicle is still on the run but efforts are underway to have him arrested and prosecuted.
On Friday June 10, at around 7:30 pm the Toyota Hiace which was heading to Bweyogerere lost control and crashed into the subway.
According to Nampiima, “it’s alleged that the said commuter taxi was traveling from the direction of Speke road facing clement road with unidentified numbers of passengers on board on a high speed, and while approaching a sharp corner it failed to break and failed to negotiate the corner, it eventually fell down inside the UBC subway roundabout killing two occupants;.
Nampiima said police rushed the injured victims to Mulago hospital and bodies of the deceased were delivered to City mortuary for post-mortem.
“Our fire and rescue services team are at the scene to remove the wreckage of the accident vehicle,” Nampiima said.
However several eyewitnesses who included Boda boda riders at the scene blamed police for the slow response to the accident.
Isma Serunkuma, one of those who rushed to the scene said they tried getting help but police responded after almost 20 minutes. “By the time they came, we had almost removed all those that had been injured from the wreckage of the taxi,” Serunkuma said.
Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago commiserated with the families of those who had lost their relatives.
“We commiserate with the families of those who lost their dear ones when a taxi lost control and rammed into the Subway along Nile Avenue. Thank you to the rescue teams which included the Uganda Red Cross Society among others. Our prayers for all those injured,” Lukwago said in a statement.
However, the Government came under sharp scrutiny over the manner in which it responded in the aftermath of the accident. The casualties were pushed under seats of police pick up cars even when they were severely injured.
The subway has been prone to accidents and in 2014 Kampala Capital City Authority shut down the restaurant at the subway. KCCA also erected barriers to prevent vehicles from falling into the subway, however accidents continued happening mainly attributed to speed.
