KAMPALA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- At least seven people were killed on spot and nine others critically injured in a Monday road accident in the central Ugandan district of Mpigi, a police spokesperson said here on Tuesday.
Philip Mukasa, the Katonga regional police spokesperson, told Xinhua by telephone that the fatal accident occurred following a head on collision between a passenger commuter taxi and a lorry loaded with cement at Maya swamp along the Kampala-Mpigi highway.
The commuter taxi carrying 16 people was heading to the capital, Kampala when it rammed into a lorry traveling to the opposite direction.
"Seven people aboard the taxi died and nine others critically injured. The injured victims were rushed to Mulago Hospital for emergency treatment and further management," said Mukasa.
He said the bodies of the deceased were taken in the same hospital for postmortem and identification by relatives.
The spokesperson said the injured remain in critical condition and the death toll could rise.
The accident comes barely two months after a serious accident on June 26 claimed 12 people and 11 others critically injured following another a head on collision at Kalandazi along the Kampala-Masaka highway.
The police attributed the cause of the road accident to careless and reckless driving.
Uganda registers at least 20,000 accidents with over 2,000 deaths each year, making it one of the countries with the highest road accident fatality rates in the world, according to police figures.
