Forty-six people have been killed after several vehicles crashed on a main highway in Uganda, police say.
Police lowered an earlier death toll of 63, saying they had mistakenly included victims who were unconscious and were now being treated.
The accident happened when two buses traveling in opposite directions “met head-on” while trying to overtake two other vehicles – a truck and a car –. on the Kampala-Gulu highway at 12:15 a.m. local time (9:15 p.m. GMT), Ugandan police said.
One of the buses swerved in an attempt to avoid a crash, but caused a “head-on and side-on collision” which led to a “chain reaction” in which other vehicles lost control and overturned.
In addition to the deaths, passengers in the vehicles involved and several other people were injured, police said. An investigation has been opened.
The injured were transported to different hospitals in the town of Kiryandongo, in the west of the country.
In a statement, police said they were working with health and emergency services to verify the figures and provide accurate updates as investigations continue into the cause of the tragedy.
President Yoweri Museveni said he learned “with sadness” of the tragic accident and offered his condolences to the bereaved families.
He called for caution to avoid such tragedies.
He ordered that each bereaved family receive five million shillings each ($1,430; £1,070) and one million shillings to the injured.
The highway linking the capital Kampala in the south and the town of Gulu in the north is one of the busiest in the country.
After the crash, police urged motorists to avoid “dangerous and reckless overtaking.”
This “remains one of the main causes of accidents in the country,” he added.
