More than 20 killed in bus crash near Kenya-Uganda border

At least 21 people were killed and 49 others injured when a bus heading for the Kenyan capital Nairobi crashed shortly after crossing the border from Uganda, police said on Sunday, the latest in a recent spate of deadly road accidents.

Ugandan regional police spokesman Rogers Taitika told the AFP news agency that most of those killed were of Kenyan nationality and eight Ugandans were killed.

The bus was traveling from the eastern Ugandan city of Mbale to Nairobi and crashed in the Kenyan town of Lwakhakha, just across the border from a Ugandan town of the same name late on Saturday.

Taitika said that the driver had apparently lost control, sending the vehicle veering off the road.

“Preliminary findings point to a case of over-speeding by the bus driver,” he added.

The Ugandan government is planning to issue new measures to try to improve road safety after a surge in accidents in the East African country in recent days.

On January 6, a passenger bus rammed into a stationary truck near the northern Ugandan city of Gulu, killing 16 people.

Ugandan police say 104 road crashes were registered in just three days over the New Year period between December 30 and January 1, with 35 people dead and 114 injured, in addition to the victims of the latest January accidents.

Security Minister Jim Muhwezi, speaking at the January 2 funeral of three siblings killed in a crash, said the cabinet was drawing up new safety measures to try to reduce the number of accidents.