At least 46 people were killed on Wednesday in one of Uganda’s deadliest road crashes in recent years.
The collision happened overnight at around 00:15 local time on the Kampala-Gulu Highway in the north of the country, involving four cars -- two passenger buses, a lorry, and a smaller car, when two buses traveling in opposite directions reportedly tried to overtake at the same time.
They collided head-on, setting off a chain reaction involving other vehicles.
Rescue teams said dozens were injured, and police investigations have been still underway.
Police revised down their initial death toll, saying some passengers first believed dead were found unconscious and were sent to hospital for treatment.
"Many of them were bleeding, had traumas, which we dressed on site before referral to the health centers that I mentioned, and then compound fractures, the limbs or the legs were broken," said John Cliff Wamala, deputy spokesman of the Uganda Red Cross Society.
Several survivors, many in critical condition, have been taken to hospitals in Kiryandongo and Kampala for specialized care.
Responders believe basic first aid training could have helped to save more lives.
"The general population lacks basic knowledge in first aid. Maybe if given an opportunity, as the Red Cross, we should have it included somewhere in the syllabus. People should know how to give basic first aid in such an incident. When we got the call at about 15 minutes past midnight, we found first responders, who are always the citizens and people around. We believe that if these people know how to give pre-hospital care, very many lives can be saved," said Wamala.
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni offered financial assistance to victims' families and urged motorists to avoid reckless driving, a leading cause of fatal crashes in the country.
He announced that each bereaved family would receive 5 million Ugandan shillings (about 1,440 U.S. dollars), while the injured would receive 1 million shillings in assistance.
46 confirmed dead in Uganda multi-vehicle crash
