Boy, 16, dies after mudslides hit house

By Aloysius Byamukama

SHEEMA - A 16-year old boy died instantly after a heavy downpour instigated mudslides in Sheema district.

The incident took place at around 5:45am Friday when the hanging rocks in the adjacent  Kamuhembe Village in Masheruka sub county, Sheema district, rolled downhill and crashed into the house where Collins Tumworobere was sleeping.

Tumworobere, his five siblings and their mother Allen Tumukugize, were at the time, still sleeping.

The deceased was sleeping alone in one of the rooms where a heavy rock crashed through a weak wall and killed him instantly.

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The Kamuhembe hills where the rocks tumbled from

Tumukugize and her little children’s efforts to free Tumworobere’s body from under the weight of the rock were futile as it was too heavy, and they opted to make an alarm, before neighbours gathered to remove it.

The Kamuhembe LCI chairperson Merab Kanyankore said they have been living on God’s mercy though this was the first time the landslides claimed a life.

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Some of the residents that gathered at Tumukugize's house

“We have been having these slides with rocks sliding to the bottom of the hill, but we have had no deaths before. But we are going to advise the leaders and a launch a tree planting campaign,” Kanyankore said.

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The late Tumworobere was asleep when a rock crashed him

The deceased dropped out of school two years ago, and his mother said she was preparing to take him to driving school.
Sheema DPC Ezekiel Emitu Ebabu who together with other Police officers rushed to the scene, advised the residents to plant trees and avoid cutting the few existing ones.

The Police later allowed the burial to take place and by press time, the residents were still gathering to see how to help in arranging the burial.