Three men buried alive at construction site

Three men have died after a pile of soil let rip and buried them alive at a construction site in Kampala.

The incident happened at about 6pm Friday in Kikandwa Zone, Mengo as the builders worked beyond the scheduled working time.

One of them, Jude Bugembe, was the site engineer. His colleagues were identified as Nicholas Ssendaula and Julius Bwambale.

Believed to be in their 20s, the three workers were buried as they dug up the foundation of the building, police said.

Emmanuel Ochamringa, the DPC of Old Kampala Police Station said the site engineers will have to account for the lives lost.

Police said the bodies were exhumed on Saturday and taken to Mulago Hospital for postmortem.

An eyewitness, James Bukenya, said the men could have survived if the police rescue team had been called in on time.
 

Elsewhere, five people died while three got injured when a building that was being constructed collapsed in the city suburb of Kansanga on Tuesday.

Similar incidents have been reported in the recent past as well.

In 2010, two buildings collapsed at Kololo and Bunga in Kampala leaving four people dead. Another building collapsed on Nasser Road, killing two people after engineers excavated earth near it.

In 2008, seven people died and two were injured when a wall collapsed at the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) building in Kampala.