KAMPALA-(MaraviPost)-At least 11 people including children have died after a fire that broke out at a school for the blind in central Uganda in the early hours of Tuesday, October 25, 2022.
The Internal Affairs Minister General Kahinda Otafiire confirmed the tragedy in a statement adding that most of the victims were children at the school.
The Salama School for the Blind that was built in 1999 has dozens of students aged between 6 and 25 at the time of the incident.
According to the local broadcaster NTV, most of the victims, including children aged between 7 and 10, were burnt beyond recognition and six others who were found in critical condition have been admitted to the hospital
The Kampala deputy police spokesperson Luke Owoyesigire, disclosed that police have deployed a forensics team that will carry out DNA tests before the bodies of the dead children are handed over to family members.
The cause of the fire is still unknown but an investigation had been launched into the matter to determine the cause of the inferno.
School fires have been common in Uganda over the years.
In November 2018, 11 boys perished and another 20 suffered severe burns in at a boarding school in southern Uganda.
Prior to this, 18 schoolgirls burned to death along with one adult when a fire engulfed their dormitory at a junior school near the Ugandan capital in April 2008.
In March 2006, at least 13 children were killed and several hurt when fire razed an Islamic school in western Uganda. In July the same year, six children died in a similar fire in the east.