Four children die, one injured in Busia School fire

Busia, (UG):- The Territorial Police in eastern Uganda’s Busia District Monday confirmed that four pupils died, while another survived with minor injuries in a fire that broke out at Victory Nursery and Primary School in Busia Town on Monday morning.

Police identified the deceased quartet as James Magero, 11, (P5), John Richard Oburu, 10,(P4), Mahmood Ali in P3 and Odero Makokha in P6, all of whom were sleeping in the boy’s dormitory when the fire started at around 1 am.

The survivor with minor injuries has been identified as Egesa Alvin of P.1, currently receiving treatment at BMK Clinic in Busia Municipality.

According to Bukedi South Region Police Spokesperson Mr Moses Mugwe, the Fire and Rescue team from Busia Police Station received a call about the incident and the team responded immediately and successfully extinguished the fire, preventing its spread to other buildings.

It is estimated that at least 62 pupils were in the dormitory of the privately owned school at the time of the fire.

Mr Mugwe said when the fire broke out, one of the children alerted the others who ran out, but the four victims, who were deep asleep, were engulfed by the raging blaze.

“Unfortunately, four juvenile boys lost their lives, and their bodies were severely burnt. The affected building was a boys’ dormitory housing 62 pupils, and all properties were destroyed in the fire. The other children managed to escape the fire,” he said.

Busia Municipality Inspector of Schools Godfrey Barasa said the school owner operated an illegal boarding section.

“Whereas he had started on the process of licensing the boarding section by the Ministry of Education and Sports, the process was incomplete,” he noted.

Asked why he accepted the school to operate a boarding section without a license, Barasa blamed politicians.

“Many schools in the municipality are operating illegal boarding sections, but they cannot be closed because politicians keep interfering with our work,” Barasa said.

Meanwhile, Mr Mugwe said the bodies of the deceased were transferred to Busia Health Center IV for postmortem examinations and preparation for handover to the Regional Police Surgeon for DNA analysis.

“Samples from parents/relatives will also be collected for matching, ensuring the proper handover of the deceased persons to their respective families,” he added, emphasizing that investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing, led by police fire experts and Criminal Investigations officers.

“We extend our condolences to the bereaved families and urge patience and calmness as the investigations progress. We commit to providing updates on the investigation’s progress.”