Property worth millions of shillings destroyed in Masaka SS fire

Masaka, (UG): Police in Masaka City are investigating the cause of a fire at a girls’ dormitory at Masaka Secondary School which left students’ property worth millions destroyed to ashes in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

The inferno which reportedly started at around 2 am when students were sleeping destroyed everything inside the dormitory including; mattresses, shoes, suitcases, clothes and books, but fortunately, no casualties were reported.

The Acting Southern Regional police spokesperson, Mr Jamada Wandera, confirmed the incident and attributed the cause of the fire to a possible electrical short circuit based on narration from the students.

“Our team is still on the ground to gather more information to establish the actual cause. We ask parents to stay calm since the situation is now under control,” he said.

A student only identified as Sumayyiyah who spoke to this reporter on Tuesday morning said that a big sound was heard followed by fire flames which went on to spread to the rest of the dormitory as they ran out to save their lives.

“We first heard a big sound and in a few minutes, fire started and quickly spread to the rest of the dormitory fueled by the highly flammable mattresses,” Sumayyiyah narrated.

Head Teacher Speaks Out

Hajj Musa Musoke Mpungu, the Masaka SS Headteacher said the girls’ dormitory gutted by the unfortunate fire incident accommodated 47 Senior Five and Six students, but none was reported injured in the process.

“No student was lost in the fire, except the two girls that fainted following the incident. All occupants of the affected dormitory are safe, but their properties were all destroyed, the fire brigade team arrived in time and prevented it from spreading to other buildings,” Mr Mpungu said, before asking the parents to stay calm as police continued to investigate the actual cause of the fire.

Masaka SS was founded in 1954 and is among the traditional secondary schools in the country with an estimated student population of 4,000, majority of whom are day scholars.