Last Updated on: 31st October 2023, 08:18 pm
Gulu I At least 12 market vendors were left with serious injuries in a Tuesday road crash near Blessed fuel station in Custom corner along Gulu-Nimule highway.
A Fuso lorry involved in the crash was of Reg. No. UBF-859P.
The traffic and road safety department at Gulu CPS on October 31, 2023, at around 9:15 a.m. said it registered a serious single crash at Blessed fuel station around Custom Corner along Gulu-Nimule highway.
The traders involved were heading to a market in Longulu sub-county, Nowya district.
Those injured have been identified as Aye Stella, 40, Okeny Pope, 40, Owagi, 40, Sserunjogo Faruk, 25; Nakabuye Hajala, 35, and Nakabuye Hajala, 35.
Others are Ojuka Jimmy Kado, 38, Niringiye Ronald, 28, Eunice, 30, AKello Jenifer, 37, Akumu Betty, 26, Abdalla Aziz, 28, Acan Concy, 37. Others were yet to be identified.
No death was reported.
Ishak Yusuf was one of the traffic police officers at the scene of the crime. He told tndNews that the driver was over-speeding and failed while turning at a corner near a petrol station.
Ishak, after the crash, advised the vendors to use another vehicle to carry them to the market.
Ochola Lacelle Joe is the driver of the Fuso truck involved in the crash. He told tndNews that when they were about to reach Custom Corner roundabout, he failed to negotiate the corner due to failures in the brake system hence veering off the road.
He touched down with the truck, passengers and their goods on the compound of Blessed Petrol station.
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The DPC of Gulu West rushed to the scene and evacuated the victims to Lacor Hospital for immediate medical attention, while the vehicle was driven and parked at the Gulu City West Police parking yard pending an IOV Inspection.
The driver was later released on police bond to attend treatment as more inquiries continue.
When asked, Dr Emintone Odong, the hospital medical director at Lacor Hospital strongly refused to comment on the statistics of those registered and admitted at the emergency ward.
“We are still rescuing the situation, their lives. Come at a later time for an interview,” Dr Odongo told tndNews Lil Okot.
Some of those with serious injuries were taken to an X-Ray room and others to the theater room.
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ASP David Ongom Mudong, the Aswa West and East River Region Police spokesperson said, “As police, we condemn the use of Cargo trucks in Dangerous Mechanical Conditions which are in most cases overloaded and over speeding to transport market vendors in various auctions as it endangers their lives on the road.”
Mudong urged all the vehicle owners to encourage those they have employed to take vehicles for regular service and inspection before their road user licenses are revoked.
The incident was registered at Gulu City West Division vide: TAR 330/2023.