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UGANDA-SCHOOL-FIRE
11 boys die in Uganda boarding school fire
KAMPALA, Nov 12, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Eleven boys perished and another 20
suffered severe burns in a fire that gutted their dormitories in Uganda while
they slept, police said Monday.
Henry Nsubuga, headmaster of the school in Rakai in southern Uganda, said
he suspected some students who had been expelled recently were behind the
“heinous act”.
The fire ripped through the St Bernard Secondary School in Rakai on Sunday
night.
“The arsonists first locked the doors of the dormitories before setting
them on fire even when the rescue came it was difficult to evacuate the
students inside the dormitories, some would have been saved but died out of
suffocation,” Nsubuga said.
“Some bodies were burnt beyond recognition and police have recommended a
DNA test to establish their identities and parentage, ” he added.
Area police chief Ben Nuwamanya told AFP that 11 students have been
confirmed dead.
“About 20 students have been admitted with severe burns and are in critical
condition but doctors say some will stabilise,” he added.
Nuwamanya said the cause of the fire had yet to be established, and that
three people, including a guard at the school, had been arrested for
questioning.
The Rakai district lies about 280 kilometres (170 miles) south of the
capital Kampala, near the border with Tanzania.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1938 hrs