At least 20 pupils killed in Uganda school bus crash

At least 20 students and one adult have been killed after a bus carrying pupils on a study trip crashed in eastern Uganda, according to local officials cited by the BBC (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c151gegwqv1o). Dozens of others, including school staff, were injured in the crash, which occurred in Kapchorwa district on Thursday evening.

Preliminary investigations suggest the bus suffered a mechanical fault before the driver lost control on Chekwatit Hill, a stretch of road that local officials say has been the site of several serious crashes, the BBC reports (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c151gegwqv1o). Police said the driver lost control of the vehicle, which veered off the road, struck a large stone along the roadside and overturned.

The bus was carrying pupils from King David Junior School in Ndejje and crashed at about 20:00 local time (17:00 GMT) at Chekwatit village, according to the BBC (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c151gegwqv1o). The children were returning from a study tour, with local media reporting they had visited the Sipi Falls tourist area. Local Government Minister Balaam Ateenyi Barugahara posted on X that the adult killed was the school's founder and director, Tadeo Ssekade.

As an immediate precaution, all school educational trips have been cancelled until an investigation is complete, a state-run outlet reported; Education Minister John Chrysostom Muyingo was quoted by the New Vision news site as saying, "we must do something about the safety of our children," according to the BBC (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c151gegwqv1o). The suspension comes amid renewed concern over the safety of school transport after several serious bus accidents in the country in recent weeks.

Uganda records thousands of road deaths every year, with speeding, poorly maintained vehicles and dangerous roads among the leading causes, traffic authorities say, the BBC reports (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c151gegwqv1o). The latest crash is among the country's deadliest road accidents involving children in recent years.

_Source Reporters corrects factual errors as soon as they are confirmed._