Kapchorwa Bus Crash: Death Toll Rises to 26 as Police Confirm Mechanical Fault Before King David School Tragedy
Death Toll in Uganda School Bus Tragedy Climbs to 26. Witnesses Say the Bus Broke Down Twice Before It Crashed
The death toll from Thursday’s King David Junior School bus crash in Kapchorwa, Uganda, has risen to 26, including 21 pupils and five staff members, among them the school’s founder and director.
The bus was returning from a study tour of Sipi Falls when it veered off the road and overturned at Chekwatit Village. Police say a mechanical fault preceded the crash, a detail an eyewitness says he and other locals had already warned the driver about twice that day.
Uganda Police first confirmed 21 dead on Friday morning. By evening, the toll had risen to 26, with the victims including 21 pupils and five members of staff, among them school director Tadeo Ssekadde, as per The Observer. Dozens of pupils remain admitted, several in critical condition, across hospitals in Kapchorwa and Mbale.
Parents were still gathering at the school in Ndejje on Friday, many not yet told whether their children survived. The government has set up an inter-ministerial committee to investigate.
What police say happened
A regional police spokesperson said preliminary findings point to a mechanical fault as the trigger for the driver losing control, and that eyewitness accounts describe the bus making several stopovers before the crash.
Warnings the driver allegedly brushed off
An eyewitness who watched the bus depart on its final leg, identified as Sabil Abdul Hak, says the bus broke down twice that day, first on the way to the tourism site, then again on the return route. Both times, he says, mechanics were called and locals urged the driver to arrange a replacement vehicle rather than continue.
“We explained this to the driver, but he insisted on continuing,” Sabil says he and others told him, as per TUKO.co.ke. Police haven’t yet said whether those warnings reached the driver directly.
About 15 minutes after the bus left Sipi with the children back on board, word reached the town that it had crashed at Chekwatit.