Seven prisoners died instantly while at least 12 were admitted with injuries after a grisly car accident that occurred this Thursday along the Karongi–Muhanga highway.

The accident took place in the morning when a passenger service coaster registered RAB699 U collided with a Daihatsu truck registration number GR047 C, at Karenzi area in Bwishyura Sector, Karongi District.

The coaster was carrying passengers from Karongi town to Kigali while the Daihatsu was transporting inmates from Muhanga Prison to Karongi, where they were due to appear in court.

Police told The New Times that after the collision, the Daihatsu overturned and fell over a roadside canal and immediately caught fire.

"Most of the prisoners died because they failed to get out of the canal to escape the fire. They were trapped in,” said Emmanuel Hitayezu, the spokesperson of Rwanda National Police in the Western Province.

According to him, there were about 12 prisoners in the truck and four prison wardens.

Five prisoners and four prison warders sustained injuries while three from the coaster were injured.

The injured were rushed to Kibuye Hospital, the Karongi District Hospital where they are getting treatment; he said adding that few of these who had sustained serious injuries had been transferred to Rwanda Military Hospital in Kanombe, for specialised treatment.

He blamed the accident on the recklessness on the part of the driver for the coaster, who veered off his lane and hit the truck from its lane.