3 trapped in collapsed city building
Aug 04, 2010
THREE people were critically injured following the collapse of a three-storeyed residential building under construction in a Kampala suburb. <br>Amina, a tea woman, earlier reported dead, is admitted at Mulago Hospital after her stomach was ripped open by iron bars.
By Jeff Lule and Godfrey Kimono
THREE people were critically injured following the collapse of a three-storeyed residential building under construction in a Kampala suburb.
Amina, a tea woman, earlier reported dead, is admitted at Mulago Hospital after her stomach was ripped open by iron bars.
The site in lower Konge in Makindye division is said to have been employing about 20 casual workers. Most of them escaped the tragedy. Two other people, Maurice Kizito and another whose identity was not established, were rushed to Mulago in critical condition.
Many labours sustained minor injuries. The Police, the Red Cross and local rescuers dug into the debris to save the trapped workers using hoes, pick axes and an excavator.
Kampala Metropolitan chief Moses Kafero said: “At about 11:00am, we got phone calls from the residents after they heard a bang at the site. We rushed to the site with three emergency response unit vehicles for crowd control.â€
He said the owner of the building, only identified Kaganda, is in hiding.
The Police arrested his son, Richard Sekyezi, the site engineer.
“Two weeks ago, Kaganda reportedly fired his site engineer for unknown reasons and gave the job to Sekyezi, now detained at Kabalagala Police Station,†Kafero said.
He noted that engineers from the works ministry were also at the site carrying out an audit of the materials used in the construction.
Kafero said the cement would be taken to the government chemists to be tested.
“We suspect that the materials used are inefficient for a storeyed building.
The metallic bars look fake, cement and the mixture of the concrete looks not to be fit for construction,†he said.
Tragedies at construction sites have been reported in and around Kampala in the past in which dozens of people were killed or injured.
One such site belonged to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) in Kampala whose foundation wall caged in.
THREE people were critically injured following the collapse of a three-storeyed residential building under construction in a Kampala suburb.
Amina, a tea woman, earlier reported dead, is admitted at Mulago Hospital after her stomach was ripped open by iron bars.
The site in lower Konge in Makindye division is said to have been employing about 20 casual workers. Most of them escaped the tragedy. Two other people, Maurice Kizito and another whose identity was not established, were rushed to Mulago in critical condition.
Many labours sustained minor injuries. The Police, the Red Cross and local rescuers dug into the debris to save the trapped workers using hoes, pick axes and an excavator.
Kampala Metropolitan chief Moses Kafero said: “At about 11:00am, we got phone calls from the residents after they heard a bang at the site. We rushed to the site with three emergency response unit vehicles for crowd control.â€
He said the owner of the building, only identified Kaganda, is in hiding.
The Police arrested his son, Richard Sekyezi, the site engineer.
“Two weeks ago, Kaganda reportedly fired his site engineer for unknown reasons and gave the job to Sekyezi, now detained at Kabalagala Police Station,†Kafero said.
He noted that engineers from the works ministry were also at the site carrying out an audit of the materials used in the construction.
Kafero said the cement would be taken to the government chemists to be tested.
“We suspect that the materials used are inefficient for a storeyed building.
The metallic bars look fake, cement and the mixture of the concrete looks not to be fit for construction,†he said.
Tragedies at construction sites have been reported in and around Kampala in the past in which dozens of people were killed or injured.
One such site belonged to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) in Kampala whose foundation wall caged in.