Death toll from Kigogwa fuel tanker explosion rises after two succumb to burns

The death toll from a fuel tanker explosion at Kigogwa town on Kampala-Bombo Road in Wakiso District has risen to 26 after two more people succumbed to injuries in hospital.

Police said Monday that the two died Sunday evening following the October 22 explosion which happened after the fuel tanker overturned before exploding into fire moments later as residents jostled to siphon fuel.

Preliminary information from the police shows that the fire which also burnt several homes, shops and motorcycles, started from a nearby charcoal stove on which maize was being roasted. 

"Yesterday, we revealed that the number of people that had died was 24, but later in the evening, two people died and now the number of people who have died stands at 26. They include 20 males and six females," the police spokesperson, Mr Kituuma Rusoke told journalists in Kampala on Monday.

Mr Rusoke revealed that 22 bodied had by Monday morning been picked from the city mortuary by the families of the deceased.

Government handed over the bodies after conducting DNA tests, according to police.
Government promised Shs5 million to the families of the deceased to help in burial arrangements and Shs1 million to the persons receiving treatment. 

Police are still searching for the driver of the fuel tanker whose whereabouts are still unknown.

Previous incidents
On February 14, 2004, 42 two people died when three vehicles, including a commuter taxi, were involved in a collision at Lwankima in Mabira Forest on the Kampala-linja road. Shortly after the accident, the vehicles caught fire and victims were burnt to death.

On June 30, 2013, a fuel tanker was hit by a car causing spillage and thereafter the fuel tanker exploded in Namungoona, a Kampala suburb. At least 42 people were burnt to death.