By Andrew Irumba
Tororo: The police are investigating circumstances under which a reckless commuter taxi driver knocked dead four Kenyan pilgrims along the Iganga-Tororo Highway on Sunday morning, and injured 10 others.
Beatrice Apinyi, the Traffic Officer in charge of Magamaga police post, says the pilgrims were crashed by taxi registration number UBD 860 W which was heading to Mbale from Kampala. She says they have launched a manhunt for the taxi driver who fled the scene shortly after the accident. She also urged motorists to be mindful of pilgrims.  Eyewitnesses told this website that the accident occurred around 5:30am on Sunday morning at Waina village in Mayuge district, when the taxi rammed into pilgrims who were    on their way to Namugongo Martyrs shrine. The deceased were later identified as Sarah Adiambo, Godfrey Abaga, Kevinah Akila, and Roselyn Mutunga. Their bodies were removed from the scene by the traffic police and taken to Iganga General Hospital mortuary pending postmortem. The deceased were part of 106 elderly pilgrims mainly from Bungoma catholic diocese in Bungoma County in Kenya.
The leader of the deceased pilgrims, Peter Sosso, says he is leading a group of elderly people who can only walk for 20kms a day and they had expected to stopover at Bugembe parish when the unfortunate incident happened. It should be recalled that in 1998, a Kenyan pilgrim identified as John Kibe was knocked dead by a speeding taxi at Lwankima along the Jinja-Kampala highway on his way to Namugongo to celebrate Martyrs’ Day.
