KAMPALA, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 10 people were instantly killed and nine others were critically injured when a truck carrying sugarcane rammed into them in the central Ugandan district of Buikwe, a police spokesperson said Wednesday.

The truck rammed into a group of people during a Kadodi, a traditional dance symbolizing coming of age for teenage boys, Hellen Butoto, the Ssezibwa regional police spokesperson said in a statement.

"After the accident, all the occupants of the sugarcane truck escaped and police embarked on hunting for the driver," she said.

The police spokesperson said the injured and the bodies of the deceased had been taken to Jinja regional referral hospital.

This accident occurred on the same day when at least 19 people were killed and six others injured in a road accident in the eastern district of Kapchorwa.

Uganda registers about 20,000 road accidents each year, with some 2,000 deaths, making it one of the countries with the highest traffic death rates, according to police statistics.