WESTERN PROVINCE

NGORORERO — One person was critically injured, while another escaped any physical injury when a vehicle they were travelling in lost control and swerved into a deep valley at Rugabano in Ngororero, on Monday afternoon.

The one critically injured was identified as Ntare Jean Pierre, while the name of the other victim of the accident, who is still unable to speak, was not easily established.

The Land Cruiser pickup carrying 60 sacks of maize flour was heading to Gishyita from Kigali. Ntare, also the vehicle driver said he was dodging a cow which was crossing the road at a terrible speed when the truck suddenly lost control.

A police traffic official only identified as Fauste, attributed the accident to sharp points along the road. "For people from Kigali, driving on these roads is very hard, because of the sharp turns," said Fauste.

However, area residents say the area is a black spot, where many accidents occur, but they associate them [accidents] to evil spirits. They claim that many cautious drivers have gotten accidents at the same spot at times fatal, a claim police denies.

"The driver [Ntare] claims to have seen a cow crossing yet in actual sense it might not have been real, this place is demon-possessed, some drivers see kids seated in the middle of the road, and as they try to spare the kids’ lives, the vehicles over turn and they lose their lives instead," said Niyigena Teunest a resident.

"True, many accidents happen here every year but I can’t confirm whether there is any connection with satanic forces," explained Fauste.

The patients are currently admitted in Inyange Hospital undergoing treatment.

"Their cases were severe but the bleeding wasn’t much, this gives hope for their recovery, though they may take long to be discharged," said a medical official at the hospital.

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