The crash happened just after midnight on the highway between the capital Kampala and the northern city of Gulu.

Initial investigations suggest it was caused by two buses coming from opposite directions trying to overtake other vehicles, a lorry and a sport utility vehicle (SUV).

The two buses collided head-on.

The Uganda Police Force said in a statement that they had mistakenly given a higher death toll earlier in the day because some victims had been found unconscious at the scene, meaning they were erroneously included in the initial toll.

President Yoweri Museveni sent condolences to the victims while campaigning for January’s general election, not far from the place where the accident happened.