Two-year-old sustains serious burns in Wakiso fire

FIRE OUTBREAK | WAKISO

A two-year old child has sustained serious burns after fire gutted a building in Musuliita town, Wakiso district.

Francis Kayongo, a resident of the area, rushed into the building after hearing the child crying. The boy is said to have been sleeping when the fire broke out.

"By the time I got into the room, the child's mattress had caught fire. Thankfully, I managed to pull him out and rushed him to the hospital," Kayongo said.

According to the officer in charge of Masuliita Police Station, Martin Kalekyezi, the incident happened after a jerrycan of petrol caught fire inside the house.

The child's mother and petrol business owner Plaxeda Nassolo, said she did not know how the fire started. She said the room had 15 jerrycans of petrol.

"I was selling petrol outside, only to turn round and see fire in my shop," she said.

Nassolo said she has dealt in her petrol business for three months to care for her  four children. She said her husband was recently in an accident and is now bedridden.

PIC: The baby's mother Plaxeda Nassolo

"That woman (the baby's mother) has been selling petrol from that room and it is the same room where she has been sleeping. We warned her over that practice, but she ignored us," officer Kalekyezi said.

The fire is said to have burnt property worth sh10m.