Senior one student sent home for fees, drowns in River Nile
What you need to know:
- Sand miners working nearby rushed to the scene and successfully rescued the three students but could not save Bbosa.
Grief engulfed students and teachers of Kangulumira Public Secondary School in Kayunga District after a Senior One student, Arajabu Bbosa, drowned at Kalagala Falls in the River Nile during a swimming spree.
The 16-year-old was among 14 students who had been sent home for school fees, leading to the ill-fated trip.
According to Enock Madada, a survivor and close friend of the deceased, the group, including Bbosa, decided to swim after being dismissed from school. They changed out of their uniforms and headed to Kalagala Falls, about three kilometers from Kangulumira Town. Initially hesitant, Madada joined his peers after their teasing.
“At first I refused, I refused to join my colleagues who were swimming but because they were laughing at me, so I decided to join them,” Madada narrated on October 8.
He added that during the swim, three students were swept away by the fast-moving water. Bbosa attempted to rescue them but was overpowered by the current and drowned. Sand miners working nearby rushed to the scene and successfully rescued the three students but could not save Bbosa. His body was later retrieved from the river.
The deceased’s father, Mr Ibrahim Manzi, revealed that Bbosa had a school fees balance of Shs90,000. Local leaders and school authorities have since urged residents to avoid swimming in dangerous areas of the river, particularly at Kalagala Falls, where several lives have been lost.
Bbosa was laid to rest in Kitabaazi village, Kangulumira Town.
