KAMPALA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of the Sunday truck accident in the northwestern Ugandan district of Pakwach has risen to 17, a police spokesperson in the region said on Monday.
Josephine Angucia, the West Nile regional police spokesperson, told Xinhua by telephone that two more people died of their injuries after the accident.
Angucia said 15 people died instantly after a lorry transporting mainly traders to Panyimur fish market lost control and overturned at Got Malara.
She said preliminary investigations show that the accident was caused by the failure of the brake system of the truck which was on a steep slope.
The injured and the bodies were taken to Arua Hospital.
Uganda registers about 20,000 road accidents each year, with some 2,000 deaths, making it one of the countries with the highest traffic death rates, according to police statistics.
