An American national has died after a train crashed the vehicle she and three other family members were travelling in.
Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesman, Mr Luke Owoyesigyire, said Savana Gardener, who was in the co-driver seat, was injured in the crash at Wankoko Railway Crossing in Kampala City on Friday at 5:25 pm, but she was pronounced dead later at the hospital where she had been evacuated to.
“It is alleged that at the time of the incident, a passenger train was travelling from Kampala towards Mukono when it collided with a motor vehicle, registration number UBF 582X, a Mitsubishi Pajero, which was coming from the Luzira side and heading to Kampala City. Following the impact, the train pushed the motor vehicle approximately 200 metres off the road,” ASP Owoyesigyire said.
Mr Owoyesigyire said the car was carrying three other American nationals: Matthew Gardener, a male adult and two children.
Savana and Matthew work with a non-governmental organisation, the Baptist Mission in Uganda.
Police said the injured were taken to the hospital.
Mr Owoyesigyire said police preliminary findings indicate that the crash may have been caused by ‘careless driving and failure to comply with hand signals issued by a railway police officer, who was on duty at the railway crossing at the time of the incident.”
However, the police said they are still carrying on with the investigations, and they would share details of their conclusive findings later.
Most train accidents at the railway crossings happen partly because the signs are obscured by traffic and vegetation. The available railway crossings have no traffic lights.
Most of the time, traffic at the railway crossings is controlled by traffic officers or private individuals.