Three day mourning for dozens dead in Uganda bus crash

KAMPALA: Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Sunday declared three days of mourning after dozens died when a speeding bus hit a tractor at night and then ploughed into a truck.
The Red Cross put the toll at 48 dead, including 16 children, but police said 22 died and 14 were injured.
The accident was one of the deadliest in Uganda in recent years and happened in heavy rain on Friday night in Kiryandongo, 220km north of the capital Kampala.
"On the directive of HE President Museveni, the government is declaring three days of National Mourning," starting Sunday, said a statement from Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda.
Initial investigations "point to speeding and vehicles in faulty mechanical conditions as the cause of the accident," the statement said.
Families of the dead would each receive 1,145 euros (RM 5,341.25) while the injured would be paid three million shillings each.
More than 9,500 people died in road accidents in Uganda between 2015 and 2017, according to the transport ministry, with the situation worsening each year.
A UN report last year found 10 people die on the roads every day and that road accidents cost the country US$1.2 billion (RM 4.78 billion) -- or five percent of Gross Domestic Product.
In 2015, Museveni sacked 900 officials in charge of building and making roads, holding them accountable for the abysmal state of the network. — AFP