Seven injured in Kalangala fire

KALANGALA –
At least seven people are injured while 56 were left homeless after fire gutted wooden structures in Beta town, Mugoye Sub County, in Kalangala District.

The fire, according to an eye witness, Fred Kasibante, started at 3am when most of the people were inside their houses sleeping.

“I was returning to my house after parking my boss’s motorcycle at his home only to find the houses already on fire, I tried calling people to come and help but in vain,” Kasibante said.

Kigundu Lameka, the owner of the burnt houses said he now has nowhere to accommodate the children he was looking after but blamed the fire on infighting between the people who lived within the structures.

The injured were rushed to Mugoye health center III for first aid. However, the area Chairperson Joseph Nsubuga asked Police to quickly investigate the cause of the fire such that such incidents do not happen again in the area.

Kalangala Red Cross branch Manager, Ibrahim Ssenyonga, who rushed to the scene to carry out risk assessment asked residents sleeping in wooden structures to equip themselves with enough water in the houses since there are no fire extinguishers in the area; “You should always sleep in your wooden structures with enough water that can easily put off the fire.”

The Officer in charge of criminal investigations at Mugoye police post, Opio Philip, asked government to provide Kalangala with enough firefighting equipment to enable police stop fire outbreaks within the locality.
This is the third fire outbreak in Kalangala district in a period of eight months