Uganda: 30 killed as minibus collides with fuel truck

A minibus collided with a fuel truck in eastern Uganda, killing 30 people, a senior police officer said today.

Twenty-five of the 26 people, including the driver of the minibus, died instantly in the crash that took place late yesterday. A two-year-old is believed to have been the only survivor on board.

The accident happened near Kitega village, about 25 miles east of the capital, Kampala, said James Wakholi, the local traffic police chief.

Another five people suffocated to death from fuel fumes, he said.

The five, together with other villagers, had jumped into a drain to siphon fuel from the truck, which had overturned and fuel poured into drainage off the road, Wakholi said.

The fuel truck did not explode, he said.

The truck was going to Rwanda from the Kenyan port of Mombasa, the officer said.

A large police contingent had been deployed at the accident scene and police had to even fire in the air to disperse some of the people trying to siphon off fuel.

Traffic has been diverted to allow police to remove the wreckage, Wakholi said.