How suspected arsonist killed four pupils in Busia dorm attack

The Monday morning fire outbreak at a boys’ dormitory at Victory Nursery and Primary School in Busia District is suspected to have been an act of arson, according to one of the pupils.

Luke Jovan Bwire, in Primary Seven, who was in the dormitory at the time of the fire outbreak, said: “The fireball was dropped inside through the window and it landed on the bed of one of our friends who had gone home for treatment.”

According to him, shortly, a “huge flame” engulfed the entire bed, burning the hand of his colleague identified as Shafiq Mubiru who slept on the lower bed.

“We raised an alarm, awakening all our colleagues that fire had been dropped in our dormitory and was spreading fast,” Bwire said, suspecting that the attacker might have first doused the dormitory with petrol before lighting the fire.

Reports suggest the school has been locked up in land and management wrangles.

The Bukedi South Region Police Spokesperson, Mr Moses Mugwe, said Police had received information that some unknown person had dropped fire through one of the windows at the corner of the dormitory.

“The police investigations are still underway, but school authorities and other sources suspect that the fire was started by an outsider who simply dropped it in the congested dormitory,” he said earlier.

Mr Mugwe said the school has been locked in land wrangles and management conflicts, which he suspects might have played a hand in the incident that claimed the lives of four pupils.

Mr Lucas Sande, the school’s director of studies, described Bwire and his friend Mubiru as heroes, saying the duo saw the fire being dropped into the dormitory and helped wake up their colleagues and the school matron who were all dead asleep.

He further revealed that some of the victims who died were either asleep or simply ignored the calls of a fire outbreak in the dormitory.

“Both boys raised alarms which helped to evacuate 58 pupils from the dormitory. We have a boy in Primary Seven called Muliro, literally meaning “fire” in the Samia dialect; so, some thought they were waking him up for night preps,” Mr Sande said.

Fueled by the high heat, night wind and highly flammable materials, among them mattresses, mosquito nets, woollen blankets and plastics materials, the fire was able to spread faster than expected.

Mr Hillary Ojambo, a neighbour of the school who heard pupils crying out for help, said the stampede was terrible, adding that the flame was “heavy” and within 15 minutes, the entire roof of the dormitory had curved in.

Meanwhile, police have taken the parents of the four victims for DNA tests to help establish the identity of the badly charred bodies.

Mr Mugwe said DNA tests are to be carried out on the bodies and their parents to help identify the victims before they are handed over for burial.

Parents speak out

Ms Goretti Nabwire, Bwire’s mother, said whereas her son was safe, all that he had, including books, clothes and beddings, got burnt, and she is worried about where to get money to buy replacements.

Ms Cissy Were, the mother to the late Mahmood Ali, says on that fateful day, the school matron rang her, informing her that her son needed some sugar, groundnuts and bread, but was surprised to receive information that his dormitory was on fire and he was among the pupils missing.

“I rushed to school and looked around, hoping to see my son, but to no avail until I went to the mortuary and established that he was among the charred dead bodies,” she said.

Mr Kopolyano Wandera, the father of the late James Magero, says he received a call, informing him about the dormitory fire just after midnight on Monday, and he, too, rushed to school but failed to locate his son.

“I went to Busia Health Centre IV and found that he was among the dead,” Mr Wandera added.

Mr Reuben Osinde, the father to the late John Richard Oburu, said he had planned to visit his son the following weekend, but his hopes were dashed that Monday morning.

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