Mukono School fire: Head Teacher says British royal guards warned of terror attacks before

MUKONO, UGANDA: Salama School for the Blind in Mukono which lost at least 11 pupils to a fire outbreak was warned of a possible terror attack ahead of princess Anne of Britain’s visit this week, the head teacher Francis Kinubi has revealed.

Princess Anne, the daughter of the late Queen Elizabeth is expected together with her husband, Sir Timothy Laurence to visit the school this Friday.

Kinubi says the warnings were made by eight officers from the Buckingham palace royal guards who visited the school twice to assess the security measures of the place, but the head teacher now admits they took the warning lightheartedly.

He also notes that royal guards instructed them to limit the number of people at the school before warning them against revealing information about the visit to the general public.

“We submitted profiles of every person who was to attend the princess’ visit,” Kinubi says. “For the terror threats, we thought it is something that would not happen to us as earlier warned, for the years we have been existence, we have never received any attacks involving injuring of our children. When you look at the hostel, fire started from the side without power connectivity making it hard to say that it was sparked by any power fault. But anyway, leave this to police to investigate and find out what exactly happened,” he said.

On Monday night, fire gutted the girl’s hostel at around 11 pm in which eleven girls perished. Seven were rushed to Herona hospital for first aid and later, five were referred to Mulago hospital for specialized treatment, under critical condition. The five are Damali Nalugwa, Blessing Namuyomba, Paula Ndagire, Stecia Nabuma, Annet Namawejje and Docus Ulika.

By the time this reporter arrived at the school, security operatives from different agencies had cordoned it off and the scene of crime officers were seen combing for vital exhibits in the soot-covered dormitory.

The deceased have also been taken to Mulago hospital for DNA testing to match with their relatives. These include Shamilah Kalamu and Gladys Namuga (P5), Pretty Pillioty (P4), Patricia Namulondo and Peace Naluminsa (P3), Josephine Namuwonge, Agnes Nantume, Rebeccah Namulondo, Veronica Nassali, Ket Nanduttu and Leticia Nakayima (P1).

At the school, distressed parents and relatives of the victims were seen chatting in school groups as they waited for updates from authorities as police loaded charred bodies of the victims into waiting ambulances. One of the parents whose particulars were not readily available by the time of filing this story fainted moments after arriving at the school premises before she was evacuated to hospital in an ambulance.

“We can’t tell the source of the fire. We feel so saddened by this incident. It’s very unfortunate. The numbers of the victims are still not clear. I visited the hospital (Herona Hospital in Kisoga Town) and I found the survivors being prepared to be transferred to Mulago and Kiruddu hospital for better treatment,” Mr Mwebesa who had just picked his daughter from the school said.

CMI visits the scene

The chief of military intelligence, Maj Gen James Birungi on visiting the scene of crime today Tuesday morning, noted that currently the exact cause of the tragedy is not known by anybody, but the intelligence team is committed to finding out the real cause.

“All that is currently said are allegations, we have heard the school has had some land wrangles, some internal management misunderstandings and now visiting of the princess, they are all speculations that will take us to the exact cause,” Birungi said.

Meanwhile, Princess Anne and her husband are expected in the country today and Salama School of the Blind is among the places she is expected to visit.

The school was founded by government in April 1999 with a vision of bringing services nearer to parents of visually impaired children.