/ 27 August 2007

Uganda army says 71 soldiers killed in crash

Seventy-one Ugandan soldiers were killed and another 41 injured, many seriously, when their huge truck crashed into a concrete barrier at the side of a mountain road, a spokesperson said on Monday.

”It was a trailer and the soldiers were changing location from eastern Uganda. Apparently no one escaped unhurt,” army spokesperson Major Felix Kulayigye said.

The crash, one of Uganda’s worst in recent memory, happened late on Sunday in Uganda’s mountainous east, he added.

”It’s really tragic. A team has been sent to investigate the exact cause of the incident,” he said.

Deadly road accidents are common in Africa, where many vehicles are in poor shape, safety is often a low priority and roads are potholed. — Reuters