SOLDIERS DIE IN UGANDA ROAD CRASH !

More than 70 people, including 57 soldiers, have died when a truck overturned in east Uganda's mountains. The army says the soldiers and their families were being moved from the border with Kenya to their base when their truck hit a concrete barrier. The accident is one of Uganda's worst in recent history. There are 31 seriously injured soldiers now in nearby hospitals, the army says.

One local official says the truck's brakes may have failed on an incline. The army is still trying to ascertain how many people were travelling on the truck at the time and the condition of the vehicle. The BBC's Sarah Grainger in Kampala says the road between Kapchorwa and Sironko in the east of the country winds through the foothills of Mount Elgon, Uganda's second highest peak, and its hairpin bends and steep gradients make for treacherous driving conditions. As many as 2,000 people are estimated by police to die on Uganda's roads each year - with poorly maintained roads and vehicles often blamed.

Uganda Army spokesman Felix Kulayigye said investigations into the cause of the accident have begun. "It is really tragic and apparently nobody escaped unhurt," Major Kulayigye told the BBC News website "The brakes of the truck failed as it was driving down hill, it hit the pavement and overturned killing most of the soldiers instantly," Nicholas Ngonzi, the district police chief told Uganda's New Vision newspaper.

Most of the injured soldiers and their spouses are undergoing treatment at Mbale and Kapchorwa hospitals in the east of the country. The soldiers had been stationed at Bukwa, close to the border with Kenya and were returning to their battalion headquarters having completed their tour there. About a month ago, the Ugandan army sent a fresh deployment of soldiers to the border because of renewed threats from Kenyan Pokot cattle herders who cross the border into Uganda to raid cattle.

BBC NEWS REPORT.