Police probe Kasenyi fire outbreak

A man and his family rummage through the debris of their burnt down shop at Kasenyi landing site on May 17, 2021, after an overnight fire outbreak. PHOTO/PAUL ADUDE

What you need to know:

  • This is the second fire outbreak at the landing site this year, with the previous one occurring in January- equally involving destruction of residents’ homes and multi-million losses.

Kampala Metropolitan Deputy Police Spokesperson Mr Luke Owoyesigire has said the police fire department has started investigations into a fire outbreak that razed down businesses worth millions of shillings in the wee hours of Monday at Kasenyi landing site.

“We have not yet ascertained what caused the fire; when we got information of the fire outbreak at around 1:30 am, police quickly organised and took fire tenders, and we got a challenge since most of the structures that had caught fire were wooden which made the fire spread very fast. Unfortunately the wooden structures got burnt completely but we were able to put out the fire by 5am, we are currently investigating what led to the outbreak” he said.

Mr Owoyesigire made the remarks during a phone interview with the Daily monitor on Monday.

“We don’t know as of now what led to the fire but since it’s a congested place housing a lot of people, hotels, we have a lot of suspicions ranging from short circuit to someone leaving a stove or appliance unattended to,” he said.

Mr Owoyesigire said there was no report of any human fatality during the fire outbreak.

Traders sort remains of their merchandise after fire razed down restaurants, fishing and food stalls, among other properties at Kasenyi Landing site. PHOTO/PAUL ADUDE

Mr Richard Semujju a fish trader at the landing site said they are not sure of what could have caused the fire since the razed down area is very busy.

“The fire started at around 12:15 am. By 1 am, there was no passage to help put out the fire since it was a narrow place which made it more difficult to put out the fire even when the fire brigade trucks arrived since they could not access the area” he said.

Mr Semujju said the residents were initially denied access to the burning area by the police which could have led to further spreading of the fire to other stalls.

This is the second fire outbreak at the landing site this year, with the previous one occurring in January- equally involving destruction of residents’ homes and multi-million losses.

In January 2018, another fire burnt down businesses at the landing site worth millions of shillings in almost the same area as Monday’s fire.