Fire guts Nile Agro Industries in Jinja

By Donald Kiirya

A violent fire broke out at the Jinja-based Nile Agro Industries and destroyed raw materials and finished goods worth millions of shillings.

By press time, the cause of the Friday morning fire was still unknown, although witnesses at the scene claim it was started by welding sparks in the oil mills.

There was double combat at the premises as police tried to put out the fire in the factory and also restrain potential looters, who pelted stones at the security forces, from entering the factory.

Police had to block the crowd that had converged at the factory gate and appeared to force its way into the factory to loot property.

Moments later, tear gas canisters fired by the security forces towards the gate caused a stampede, as the crowd, mostly men, darted off into different directions for cover.

Likely cause

Francis Ochieng, an electrician at the factory, said the fire broke out at around 11:30am as they were doing maintenance and repair work in the factory.

“The fire started from the oil mill where I was working. Welding sparks split on the ground and there was a worker who was sweeping them away and piling them in one place,” Ochieng explained.

“At first they caught fire but we managed to put it off. However, we were not aware that another fire had already caught a conveyor belt, found its way into the oil refinery department and in the decodecator department, where cotton seed is grinded and taken to the oil mill.”

A bulldozer breaks open part of the rear walls of the factory to give way for the fire fighters to get to the fire.

Jinja district Police Commander, Jonathan Musinguzi, accompanied by the South Eastern regional Police Commander, Ben Mubangizi, said they had not yet established the cause of the fire but investigations had started.

This is the second time the factory is dealing with a fire outbreak. Last year, another fire razed the premises and destroyed the flour mill, which is still under maintenance.

Fire brigades

The incident left the managing director of Industries Morganbhai Patel and the employees dumbfounded as they watched fire-fighters battle with the inferno that did not spare millions-worth of property.

Musinguzi said they called for a re-enforcement of fire brigades from police headquarters in Kampala to help put out the hungry fire.

By press time, seven fire brigades were still battling the fire: one from Kakira Sugar Limited (KSL), Nile Ply Industries, Southern Range Nyanza Industry, two from Jinja Police and two from Kampala.

During the ‘fire battle’, a Scene of Crime Officer (SOCO) attached to Jinja Police was dangerously hit by a stone from the unsettled crowd behind the gate.

One of the employees at the factory got overwhelmed by the incident and fainted. She was rushed to Jinja hospital for medical attention and it was later discovered that she had lost her clothes in the inferno.

Nile Agro Industries is located in Jinja town and it manufactures cooking oil, wheat flour, laundry soap and all kinds of plastic materials.