Body recovered from Jinja building as death toll rises to six

Rescue workers and police officers carry the body from the site.  PHOTO BY PHILIP WAFULA

JINJA- Search teams Saturday recovered decomposing body of a man from the rubble of a building that collapsed on Wednesday in Jinja town.

This brings the death toll to six.

 Eight workers are recuperating at Jinja Hospital.  Two workers sought treatment elsewhere while four survived with minor injuries at the building that was under construction.

About 37 workers are said to have been on duty when the building collapsed.

Kiira Region Police spokesperson, Ms Diana Nandaula, on Saturday said their search for survivors and the dead continues.

"We are turning the whole place upside down," she said at the site which is engulfed by a pungent smell.

The body was taken to Jinja Hospital mortuary for an autopsy before being handed over to relatives.

Since Friday, when hope of finding survivors waned, residents have been gathering at the scene to receive bodies of their beloved ones.

Meanwhile, Ms Nandaula said the presence of heavily armed UPDF soldiers at the scene is 'a normal deployment procedure'.

"Police formally wrote to the army leadership asking for their services. We are partners, so we asked to be beefed up with the regular army because unscrupulous people had started stealing items from the site," she said.