Fire survivors speak out

Dec 13, 2001

TWO survivors of last week’s Iganga oil fire, that claimed the lives of over 80 people, have said the taxi they were travelling in started the fire, reports Solomon Muyita.

TWO survivors of last week’s Iganga oil fire, that claimed the lives of over 80 people, have said the taxi they were travelling in started the fire, reports Solomon Muyita. Peter Tegike Maseege, 46, the headmaster of Bulume Primary School in Bugiri, who was a passenger in a commuter taxi Reg. No. UBB 342, now admitted in Bugiri Hospital, said fire started from that taxi’s exhaust pipe. “I was in the back seat. We reached the scene of the accident when there was no fire. We stopped near the trailer. Residents were siphoning fuel. Our driver and conductor wanted to get some of the fuel to fill their tank, Maseege said while sitting on his bed in a special room. He sustained burns on the head and arms.. “Fire started from our exhaust pipe, because our driver left the engine on. I witnessed that while sober and in my senses,” he said. The taxi conductor, Mwamadi Waiswa, admitted in the same hospital with extensive burns, supported Maseege’s claims.

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