Uganda says 72 soldiers and family die in crash

NAIROBI, Aug 27 (Reuters) Seventy-two people, mostly Ugandan soldiers, were killed and another 41 injured, many seriously, when their huge truck crashed into a concrete barrier in the east of the country, a spokesman said tomorrow.

The death toll from the truck carrying the soldiers and their relatives was one of the highest the Ugandan army has suffered in peacetime.

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

Fifty-seven soldiers along with 13 wives and two children riding on the truck died in the crash late yesterday in Uganda's mountainous east, he said. ''It's really tragic. A team has been sent to investigate the exact cause of the incident.'' Kulayigye had earlier said all the dead were soldiers.

Fatal road accidents are common in Africa, where many vehicles are poorly maintained, safety is often a low priority and roads frequently potholed.

The state-owned New Vision newspaper said the accident took place at Kapchogo village near Mount Elgon, which straddles the border with Kenya. The injured were taken to Mbale and Kapchorwa hospitals.

It quoted Kapchorwa police chief Nicholas Ngonzi as saying the brakes on the truck had failed as it went down a hill.

Concrete barriers are set along the winding road from Kapchorwa to the capital Kampala to stop vehicles careering off the edge if they lose control.

The newspaper said Uganda's military had recently transferred more troops to the border area to counter a threat from cattle-raiding Pokot warriors from Kenya.

The army has deployed heavily in Uganda's lawless east in the past few months to combat cattle raids and inter-clan warfare between nomadic tribes.

REUTERS SY KP2057