KAMPALA, July 19: Ten foreign peacekeepers were among the 60 people killed when a runaway petrol tanker collided with a bus in western Uganda on Thursday (partly reported in Friday’s Dawn).

A UN mission is deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo made up of military observers and unarmed troops from several countries.

Earlier reports suggested the 10 foreigners aboard the bus were tourists.

“One of them (the peackeeepers) was a Kenyan, two were Indians and the rest were Europeans,” a Okello, a police official said.

The accident occurred at Rututo, some 360 kilometres west of the capital Kampala, on Thursday afternoon after the tanker’s brakes failed, sending it into collision with the coach.

The resulting inferno killed all aboard both vehicles.

“There were no surivors. There is nothing that can be done now. Everyone was burnt to death. What we could do was clear the road,” said Okello.

“We suspect that about 60 people were on the bus,” he added.

After visiting the site of the crash, described the scene as “terrifying.”

“The fire was rapid and lasted for about one hour. We estimate it took 20 minutes to kill all the people,” he said, adding that bodies were still inside the wreckage late in the evening.

“We are waiting for pathologists from Kampala to come and study the situation and do their report,” he said.

Citing eyewitnesses, Okello said “the truck passed by a trading centre with the driver seeming to be struggling, and when it reached a slope it sped on and started wavering on the road.

“That’s when it hit the bus, near Lake Kygutte. Then both the bus and the truck rolled down the slope. The truck burst into flames and the fire spread to the bus,” he said.

The fire covered an area of 100 by 30 metres, Okello said.—AFP