At least five pupils have today morning perished, and several others wounded, after fire gutted two dormitories, one at Kibedi day and boarding primary school in Kawempe division, Kampala, and another at St. John’s primary school in Kyotera.
The victims at Kibedi primary school have been identified as Tena Denge aged 6; Bashira Nabawesi, 6; Julian Nakalanzi,6 all in primary one and seven-year-old Hasina Nakawuki, a primary two pupil.
Ferocious fire, whose origin is yet to be established caught the female dormitory at Kibedi primary school in the wee hours of Saturday morning, at around 2:00 am.
The pupils who were at that time asleep were caught by surprise, leading to the death of four (bodies burnt beyond recognition). It took extra-ordinary and careful examination, to establish their true identities.
Three other pupils are said to have sustained serious injuries. At the time of filing this report, parents had surrounded the school premises, to establish what became of their children, but no one was granted access.
There was heavy police deployment to prevent the situation from going out of control, due to parents who were utterly rowdy and furious, pushing to see their children.
Others scoffed at school authorities, chatting that they wanted to relocate their children from the said school.
Police spokesperson for Kawempe division Joseph Mugisha said they are still investigating the matter, to establish the real genesis of the flames.
“It started at night, we dont know the exact time it started, but police was alerted at 3:30 am, at a time when fire was seriously ravaging the school, and on a sad note four pupils in that dormitory lost their lives, and we have established that the dormitory that was gutted contained about 40 pupils. All that happened without knowledge of police. We were alerted when it was a beat late,” said Mugisha.
In a separate sad development, it was a somber mood today early morning at St. Johns Nursery and Primary day and boarding school Kyotera, when a pupil perished in another fire that gutted a boys’ dormitory.
It is alleged that suspected arsonists sprayed a substance believed to be petrol around the boys’ dormitory, at a time when there was a power blackout, before setting it ablaze.
The deceased has been identified as Serugo Mark Savio, a primary four pupil who emanates from Rakai district.
The school matron, on detecting the odour of petrol at a time of when there was a power outage, decided to open the rear door, so as to prevent disaster.
The deceased did not understand where his mates passed to evade disaster, but he instead decided to used the front door, which was locked.
It was at that moment in time, that fire ambushed him, leading to his eminent death. At a time of filing this report, the deceased’s body was still inside the dormitory, which was burnt beyond repair, and cordoned off by police.
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