Panic as fire guts cars in NSSF basement
Police fire fighters at Workers House where fire destroyed two cars in the basement on February 19, 2019. PHOTO BY KELVIN ATUHAIRE
What you need to know:
- Police said the fire was caused by a spark in a vehicle parked in the basement.
KAMPALA.
There was a stampede at Workers’ House which is home to National Social Security Fund (NSSF) offices on Tuesday afternoon as clients and staff members scampered for their lives following a fire outbreak in the basement.
Eyewitnesses said fire alarms started at around 5pm but the workers in the different offices on the building first ignored them thinking they were “the usual false alarms” until they saw a lot of smoke emanating from the subterranean vault.
“We saw the smoke coming from the basement but we could not establish the cause. We alerted police and we thank it for responding on time because no one was hurt and the building was saved,” Ms Barbra Arimi, NSSF’s head of Marketing and Communications said.
Speaking to journalists after the fire had been contained, Mr Joseph Mugisa, the head of police’s fire and rescue directorate, said preliminary investigations had revealed that the fire was caused by a spark in a vehicle parked in the basement.
“We have realised that one vehicle abruptly caught fire and it later spread to another car. We are yet to understand why this car caught fire and we shall make a report after investigations,” Mr Mugisa said.
By press time, several fire fighters and vehicles had been parked around the premises as smoke was still emanating from different windows. Mr Mugisa reaffirmed that no person was hurt and that the building had been secured and ready for use.
