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Six die in house fire as Jinja market burns
A child looks at what remains of a house in which the six people choked to death on Sunday night. PHOTO BY STEPHEN OTAGE
Government analysts and detectives spent the day yesterday gathering evidence to establish the cause of a house fire that killed six of its seven occupants in Nakawa Division.
This is the fifth fire in less than two months in which several people have been burnt in mysterious incidents that have puzzled the authorities.
Although detectives and experts are still investigating yesterday morning’s fire, it was unlikely that foul play was involved, detectives said yesterday.
Police identified the dead as Kevin Nalumansi, 24, Michael Waibi, 25, and former Makerere University Business School student, Agnes Namukasa, 22, Harriet Nabasirye, 28, who returned from service in Iraq, Ahmad Jjemba, 6, and Joan Namugane, 10. The Kampala Metropolitan Police commander, Mr Andrew Sorowen, identified the survivor as Justine Nakagolo, 45, a charcoal trader at Nakawa Market.
“She has been admitted to Mulago Hospital and is now in stable condition. She was able to survive the fire because she ran to the bathroom where there was no smoke,” Mr Sorowen said yesterday.
The incident happened at round 2am in a house rented by Ms Nakagolo at Nsimbiziwoome village, Nakawa Division.
Among the many leads police are investigating was an abandoned candle that may have been the source of the fire, police said. However, some neighbours alleged that the fire may have been started by an arsonist, a claim disputed by the police.
Eye witness
According to neighbours, they heard an alarm in the house, which prompted them to rush to the scene. “We forced our way in but found that five people had died while their mother was suffocating in the bathroom,” an eyewitness said.
Fires have been common in schools and markets, but increasingly more residential houses are being burnt down. The first of the most recent incidents happened in Kawempe Division, a case in which five people, mostly children, died. Another fire was at Kamuli, Kira Township, where two children left at home by their mother died. A fortnight ago in Luweero District, five children were burnt in a house.
Najjembe burns
The Kampala Metropolitan area registers at least three fires a day, and last year at least 57 people were killed in 48 fire incidents. In a related incident, property worth millions of shillings went up in flames as fire gutted Najjembe Market located on the Jinja-Kampala highway in Mukono District yesterday morning.
The cause of the fire which started at about 3am was by press time not known. According to the District Police Commander, Ms Caroline Akoth, the fire destroyed all the stalls and shops. The vendors that talked to Daily Monitor wondered how they would service their loans, without a source of income.
Additional reporting by Herbert Mugagga
