DRIVER INJURED AS FUEL TRUCK CATCHES FIRE IN OYAM
However, traffic flow is hindered, but police have diverted the routes from the scene to avoid road accidents.
By Christopher Nyeko
OYAM: A driver of a yet-to-be identified fuel truck is nursing wounds at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital after the truck caught fire at Amwa Center, Myene Sub County, Oyam District.
It’s reported that the truck was ferrying petroleum through Kampala-Gulu Highway this morning at around 9:00 a.m, and the cause of the incident is yet to be established by the police.
According to the Amwa village Chairperson, Denish Obwa, the truck was running with fire burning from its back, spreading to other parts of the vehicle.
The eyewitness believes that the fuel truck, which was from Kampala and headed to Gulu City, caught fire between Kamdini and Minakulu.
‘’After realizing that it had caught fire, the driver struggled and drove to the safer area to avoid damaging buildings and injuring people who had overcrowded at Amwa Trading Center,’’ he said.
Obwa told our reporter that after parking the fuel truck, the driver abandoned it, and no causality was registered.
The Oyam Resident District Commissioner, William Komakech, confirmed the incident and said the yet-to-be identified driver was rushed to Gulu Regional Referral Hospital for treatment.
‘’The Police first aiders found that he broke his thigh when, at the time, he was struggling to abandon the burning truck,’’ he said.
Komakech further disclosed that both the traffic police personnel and the fire brigade police from Oyam district swiftly responded to the scene, and the situation is now calm.
However, traffic flow is hindered, but police have diverted the routes from the scene to avoid road accidents.
Attempts to get comments from Jimmy Patrick Okema, the North Kiyoga Police spokesperson, and Innocent Mubangizi, the Oyam District Police commander, were futile as both of them did not respond to the several phone calls made by press time.
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