A bride and her groom were on Sunday afternoon injured in a road accident on the way to their wedding.

Josephine Mukarurangwa, 33, sustained serious injuries on the head as a result before she was rushed to the University Teaching Hospital of Butare (CHUB). She was later transferred to King Faisal Hospital Kigali.

The bridegroom, Phenias Niyifasha, sustained minor injuries and by press time he was being treated at Nyanza Hospital. The couple and their guests were driving from an introduction and dowry giving ceremony in Huye to a church in Nyanza where they were due to exchange vows, relatives said.

The accident occurred on Sunday at around 1:40pm in Kinkanga village, Rusatira sector, Huye District.

The accident occurred when a Haval jeep the couple and three other persons were travelling in, registration number RAC 897D, tried to overtake a Nissan Horizon Coach bus, Police said.

The jeep was headed for a head-on collision with an oncoming Coaster bus when the driver struggled to avoid the crash, veering the bridal car off the road as a result.

Four individuals, including the bride and the groom, sustained injuries and were all rushed to hospital, the southern region Police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Hubert Gashagaza told The New Times.

Madeleine Mukandekezi, a family member who was travelling with the couple, sustained serious injuries and, by press time, she was said to be in intensive treatment at CHUB.

Another man, whose identity could not readily be established, was shortly briefly and discharged. Police said the driver of the fateful jeep is on the run.

Breach of rules

Dr Basile Habumuremyi told The New Times that the bride was in a critical condition.

Medical tests revealed that the lady’s conscious state was at the score of 10 out of 15 on the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), a neurological scale that detects the conscious state of a person for initial as well as subsequent assessment.

Her cervical spine was fractured, Dr Habumuremyi said, who however added that the bride’s condition remained stable. "In such a condition one would have expected her to have difficulties to breathe but luckily she managed to do so and she’s in a stable condition.”

She was put on a collar Minerva prior to her transfer to stabilise her spine, the medic added.

Meanwhile, Police has urged drivers to respect traffic rules to avoid road fatalities.

CSP Gashagaza said it the accident was likely caused by the overtaking in the wrong place. "Drivers should always comply with traffic rules to avoid endangering people’s lives,” he said.

The accident came hardly a week after a deadly road accident killed 15 people and left more than 20 in critical condition along the Kigali-Kagitumba highway.

The Gatsibo accident involved a Coaster minibus which collided with a commuter omnibus en route from Kayonza to Nyagatare.

The accident prompted government to devise new road safety measures including the requirement for public transport buses and heavy trucks to install speed governors.

At least 1324 road accidents were reported in the first half of 2014, killing 97 people, according to Police figures.