A heartbreaking road accident on the Yumbe–Koboko highway has thrown Odriga village into deep mourning after a Primary Three pupil lost his life and three others were left badly injured in a collision involving a Toyota Wish and a motorcycle carrying schoolchildren.
The victim, identified as Tairan Kamba, a pupil at St Daniel Nursery and Primary School, died instantly at the scene. He had been travelling on a motorcycle along with two other young children and an 18-year-old student when the tragedy unfolded on Wednesday morning.
According to local authorities, the motorcycle was carrying four people — the rider and three pupils — when it collided head-on with a Toyota Wish driven by 20-year-old Sharif Wajarasu, a resident of the area. Early police findings indicate that reckless driving by the car’s driver may have caused the fatal crash.
The injured victims include Senior Three student Faridah Ismail Andezo of Aringa Secondary School, alongside two young children aged six and four. All three were rushed to Yumbe Regional Referral Hospital to receive urgent medical care. Meanwhile, Kamba’s body was taken to the same hospital’s mortuary for a postmortem examination.
Both the motorcycle and the Toyota Wish have been taken to Yumbe Central Police Station as investigations continue.
The incident has once again raised public concern over road safety on highways in the West Nile region, where poor driving habits and overcrowded motorcycles continue to put many lives at risk. Local leaders and residents are now renewing calls for strict enforcement of traffic rules to prevent further loss of life.
This tragic accident serves as a painful reminder of the dangers faced by children who rely on motorcycles as their daily means of transport to school, and it has intensified community demands for safer roads and stronger traffic discipline across the region.