KAMPALA, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- At least seven people were killed on the spot and six others critically injured in a Wednesday night road accident in the eastern Ugandan district of Iganga, a police spokesperson said here Thursday.
Patrick Onyango, Uganda's deputy police spokesperson, told Xinhua in an interview that the fatal accident occurred following a head-on collision between a passenger commuter taxi and coaster bus at Namasoga along the Jinja - Iganga Highway.
The taxi was travelling from eastern town of Busia heading to the capital Kampala while the coaster was coming from the opposite direction.
"The dead included the two drivers. The cause of the road accident was reckless driving by the taxi driver. He was trying to overtake several vehicles ahead and ended up colliding with an oncoming coaster," said Onyango.
He said the bodies of the deceased were taken to Iganga Hospital mortuary for postmortem while the injured were rushed to the same hospital and Jinja regional referral hospital for treatment.
Onyango warned drivers to avoid reckless driving and speeding, which are the major causes of road carnage in the east African country.
Uganda registers about 20,000 accidents each year, with some 2,000 deaths, making it one of the countries with the highest road traffic death rates, according to police statistics.
