At least 19 vehicles have lost control on Karuma Bridge and plunged into the waterfalls of the Nile in the last 10 years, according to figures from the police.
All the accidents are nearly identical as the vehicles involved first knock the eastern side of the bridge before falling 7.5 metres deep into the fast-flowing water.
The latest of accident was on April 24, 2021, when a fuel tanker Registration Number UAS 337M lost control and fell in the water. The lorry was from Lira enroute to Masindi Port in Kiryandongo district.
Two people, including the driver identified as Alex Ogwal, 35 and Howard Obaro, 21, a pump attendant, working with Shine Energy Petrol Station, all residents of Lira City, died in the accident.
The case has been registered at Nwoya Central Police Station.
On Sunday, police rescue team led by the Director Fire and Rescue Services in the Uganda Police Force, Assistant Inspector General of Police, Joseph Mugisha called off a search for the bodies at it was deemed risky for the police divers.
The same spot had just been repaired three weeks ago following incident in 2018. In the June 2018 incident, a Fuso truck registration number UAS 994 Y lost control, hit the guardrail, and plunged into the waterfalls. There were three occupants were in the vehicle. All died. A similar incident against happened in July 2017.
Bodies of 24 people presumed dead after accidents registered on the bridge, a major link between northern and central regions, are also yet to be recovered.
Jimmy Patrick Okema, the Aswa River Region Police Spokesperson admitted that police finding it hard to recover the vehicles that plunged into the rapid falls. Okema described the recovery process as a risky.
