Fire guts Kakungulu Memorial School
A fire yesterday gutted a girl’s dormitory of Kakungulu Memorial Secondary School, Kibuli in Kampala.<br>Although the Senior Four students residing in the ill–fated Bastile dormitory lost all their property, they escaped unhurt.
By Steven Candia
A fire yesterday gutted a girl’s dormitory of Kakungulu Memorial Secondary School, Kibuli in Kampala.
Although the Senior Four students residing in the ill–fated Bastile dormitory lost all their property, they escaped unhurt.
Some of the students had only arrived on Saturday for the first term which officially opens today, while student leaders had reported much earlier.
The incident, which awakens scary memories of last year’s disturbing spate of school fires happened at about 5:30am.
“By that time (5:30am) most of the students were preparing to go to read so they managed get to safety,†said Habib Adiga, the career guidance and counselling master.
Adiga said the school will continue to operate normally.
“We have not yet established the cause of the fire,†said the Police spokesperson, Judith Nabakooba.
However, suspicion was rife both at the school and within security circles that the incident could have been orchestrated from within, given that the school is well fenced.
The Police said the dormitory had 14 triple-decker beds and housed 42 students.
According to preliminary information, the fire is believed to have started from the centre of the dormitory, a pointer that it was started from within.
Fuelled by highly combustible materials, like mattresses, the fire quickly spread.
The fire was put out by fire fighters from Fire Masters, a private fire fighting firm with offices just about 200 metres away from the school.
At least three Police officers were deployed to secure the scene for officials from the Government analytical laboratory to collect samples for testing.
The school administration yesterday met with parents of the affected students and resolved to buy a mattress and a metallic suit case for each student.
By yesterday, eight people, among them a guard at the school, a matron of the dormitory and five students, had been taken to Kabalagala Police Station for questioning.
They were later released.
A fire yesterday gutted a girl’s dormitory of Kakungulu Memorial Secondary School, Kibuli in Kampala.
Although the Senior Four students residing in the ill–fated Bastile dormitory lost all their property, they escaped unhurt.
Some of the students had only arrived on Saturday for the first term which officially opens today, while student leaders had reported much earlier.
The incident, which awakens scary memories of last year’s disturbing spate of school fires happened at about 5:30am.
“By that time (5:30am) most of the students were preparing to go to read so they managed get to safety,†said Habib Adiga, the career guidance and counselling master.
Adiga said the school will continue to operate normally.
“We have not yet established the cause of the fire,†said the Police spokesperson, Judith Nabakooba.
However, suspicion was rife both at the school and within security circles that the incident could have been orchestrated from within, given that the school is well fenced.
The Police said the dormitory had 14 triple-decker beds and housed 42 students.
According to preliminary information, the fire is believed to have started from the centre of the dormitory, a pointer that it was started from within.
Fuelled by highly combustible materials, like mattresses, the fire quickly spread.
The fire was put out by fire fighters from Fire Masters, a private fire fighting firm with offices just about 200 metres away from the school.
At least three Police officers were deployed to secure the scene for officials from the Government analytical laboratory to collect samples for testing.
The school administration yesterday met with parents of the affected students and resolved to buy a mattress and a metallic suit case for each student.
By yesterday, eight people, among them a guard at the school, a matron of the dormitory and five students, had been taken to Kabalagala Police Station for questioning.
They were later released.