Child dies in Nakasongola house fire

Police in Nakasongola District are investigating circumstances under which a fire gutted a house, killing a 7-year-old boy.

The fire also destroyed property worth millions of shillings during the Friday night incident at Kibuye landing site in Lwampanga Sub County, Nakasongola District.  

Police identified the deceased as Asuman Lubega, a resident of the same area.

Preliminary information indicates that an 8-year-old boy was preparing food, and poured petrol into the charcoal stove which resulted in the fire.

“Our investigations indicate that Hakim Lubega,8, a son to Rose Namubiru was lighting a charcoal stove to cook food at home when he used a petrol fuel which was in the house because their parents deal in the same business,” Savannah Regional police spokesperson, ASP Sam Twiineamazima said on Saturday. 

“The petrol exploded in the house and the entire house caught fire that burnt the deceased beyond recognition since he was in his deep sleep and all house properties were also burnt,” he added.

On Saturday, Twiineamazima noted that: “Upon receiving the information from the victim’s mother, (Namubiru) police responded in time and the case of arson was registered while the scene was also visited.”

The body was conveyed to Nakasongola Hospital for postmortem.

The annual police crime report of 2022 indicates that a total of 1,747 cases of arson were reported to the law enforcement agency in 2022 compared to 1,803 cases reported in 2021. About 1,614 cases were reported in 2020.