A massive fire spread through a dormitory at a school in Mukono, east of Kampala, overnight as pupils slept.
Officials say at least 11 people, mostly children, were killed when a fire ripped through a dorm at a school for the blind in eastern Uganda while pupils slept.
The incident occurred around 1 a.m. on Tuesday (22:00 GMT Monday) at the Salama School for the Blind in Mukono district’s Luga village, east of Kampala.
“The source of the fire is currently unclear, but 11 deaths have been confirmed as a result of the fire, with six in critical state and hospitalized,” the Uganda Police Force said on Twitter.
Police said an investigation had already been launched and that more information would be eventually released.
“The majority of the dead are schoolchildren, and our hearts go out to their parents,” said Internal Affairs Minister General Kahinda Otafiire, according to AFP.
He claimed that the school had been cordoned off as a “scene of crime,” and he promised transparency.
“As a government, we will investigate the cause of the fire, and if any perpetrators are found, they will be immediately arrested, and the law will follow its course,” he appended.
Caught Asleep
The school’s head teacher, Francis Kirube, who is blind, told AFP that flames swept through the dorm while the students were sleeping.
Pictures broadcast on Ugandan t.v have shown a charred but mostly intact building in which the fire broke out, with blackened window frames as well as doors and a damaged corrugated roof.
At the school, forensic teams were seen wearing white safety gear, while grief stricken parents assembled nearby.
Salama was constructed in April 1999 by the Mukono local government and caters to young adults and children aged six to 25.
In recent years, Uganda has seen a rash of fatal school fires.
In a presumed arson attack at a boarding school in southern Uganda in November 2018, 11 boys died and also another 20 were severely burned.
In April 2008, 18 schoolgirls and one adult were killed when a fire enveloped their dorm at a junior school near Uganda’s capital.
A religious school in western Uganda was destroyed by fire in March 2006, killing at least 13 children and injuring several others.
Six children died in a similar fire in the east in July of the same year.
