The police in Gulu are still hunting for the driver of a truck that was involved in an accident that left 8 people dead and 20 injured.
Aswa Regional Police spokesperson, Jimmy Patrick Okema says preliminary findings indicate that the tyre of the truck burst causing it to overturn.
He says a Canter truck registration number UAT737L, that they were travelling in on Thursday morning over turned along Gulu- Olwiyo road at Lukutu village in Kochgoma Sub-county Nwoya district.
The injured persons most of them traders are admitted at Gulu regional referral hospital and St Mary’s Hospital Lacor
The traders were from Gulu Town heading to Purongo Sub County in Nwoya District for an auction.
The affected traders are those from Kakanyero and Kaunda ground temporally market sites where they were relocated to pave way for the construction of the multibillion Gulu main markets.
One of survivors, who has bruises all over the body and complains of pain in the waist, Mr Ismail, Ziiwa Mbabali.
“I was the first person to land on the ground and the vehicle landed on my hands first though I survived with minor injuries. At that time I got up and started helping those who were very hurt and later that is when I also collapsed and rushed here at Gulu regional referral hospital,” he says.
According to Dr Abdulla Feituk, at the emergency unit at Gulu referral hospital, the injured persons have internal injuries and fractures.
“We are doing our best and as we talk now there is some improvement and we are hoping for the best,”
Ms Joyce Amono, 31, a resident of Kasubi Village in Gulu Municipality, who is nursing head and chest injuries at St Mary’s Hospital Lacor said when the tyre of the truck burst, the driver tried his best to control the truck but failed sending the truck to overturn.
“It was like a gunshot sound, but we later realized that the front tire of the truck burst. The driver tried controlling the vehicle but maybe he realized he couldn’t and decided to jump out,” says Ms Amono.
Within seconds, the truck flipped off the main road and overturned, I found myself at the edge of the road while my colleagues were buried under the truck and others in heaps of clothes screaming, adds Ms Amono.
The in charge of the Surgery ward two at St Mary’s Hospital Lacor, Sister Jane Ongwen, said some of the patients brought in critical conditions are stabilizing given the treatment they are getting.
“Around 12 people were brought in the emergency unit on Thursday, but only two are at the moment admitted at the intensive care unit with abdominal pain and fractured clavicle. Others at the surgery ward are now stable and we are seeing improvement,” says Sister Ongwen.
“Our personnel responded swiftly to the accident scene and ferried the dead and injured to St Mary’s Hospital Lacor and Gulu Regional Referal Hospital.
We have confirmed of seven dead people whom the police carried out postmortem on them,” Mr Okema noted that the Police are still hunting down for the truck driver who has gone into hiding adding once apprehended, the law will catch up with him.
“We have had several communities policing with these traders and even the truck drivers with the last one being last week on the dangers of over loading and over speeding but they seem not to understand,” he said.
Over the weekend, two people perished in head on collision involving a Bakulu Bus and a trailer truck along Gulu-Juba road.
Story by Cissy Makumbi
Story by Cissy Makumbi
