Lightning strikes teacher dead in Iganga
What you need to know:
- Ms Joy Kanage is said to have been walking in the school compound when lightning struck her, according to the Nambale sub-county LC3 chairman, Mr Nasur Ibanda
A teacher at Nambale Primary School in Nambale sub-county, Iganga District has been struck dead by lightning.
Ms Joy Kanage is said to have been walking in the school compound when lightning struck her, according to the Nambale sub-county LC3 chairman, Mr Nasur Ibanda.
“Police handed over the body to her relatives for burial since it was confirmed that the cause of her death was lightning,’’ Mr Ibanda said on Friday.
The Iganga District LC5 chairman, Mr Ezra Gabula, urged the government to reinforce the installation of lightning arresters at schools before they reopen for the first term next week.
“Most of the schools in my district are operating without lightning arresters; therefore, the government should enforce their installation as schools prepare to open on Monday,” he said.
The Iganga District Education Officer, Mr Baker Kasadhakawo, however, differs from Mr Gabula's statement.
“I can tell you that schools in my district have lightning arresters, but they cannot operate over long meters (radius) from buildings,” he said, adding that the deceased was struck from the football field where she had reportedly gone to collect goats as rain started falling.
Schools in Busoga sub-region are prone to lightning which has often resulted in the loss of lives, especially children.
In June 2011, four Senior Four students of Valley Hill Secondary School in Kaliro District were hospitalised after being struck by lightning.
Barely two days earlier, two pupils at Nawangoma Primary School in Jinja District, were killed by the thunderbolt.
