Children among 11 killed in fire at Uganda blind school / Photo: © AFP
-
Kenya's economy faces climate change risks: World Bank
-
Indonesian economy comes up for air but struggles to win back investors
-
Trump says US-Iran deal to be signed Sunday, Hormuz to open after
-
Between Trump and a hard place: Fed chair Warsh to lead first rate meeting
-
High-school drop out to big time crime boss, Venezuela's 'Nino Guerrero'
-
US-Iran deal could be finalised soon, mediator Pakistan says
-
Thousands gather in Thai capital to mourn late princess
-
US says downed multiple Iran drones as both insist deal closer
-
SpaceX: Five key moments, from first launch to Starship megarocket
-
US clears Paramount's $111 bn Warner Bros. takeover
-
Iran and US say deal closer than ever
-
Cuba opens more sectors to private business
-
World Cup struggles to ignite US excitement
-
US appellate court upholds Sam Bankman-Fried criminal sentence
-
France bids farewell to girl, 11, whose killing sparked outrage
-
Wall Street wobbles as SpaceX shares launch, oil slides on Mideast deal hopes
-
SpaceX lifts off in record Wall Street debut
-
US deportation flight carrying Iranians en route to C.African Republic
-
At a Libyan university once ravaged by war, students dream again
-
Kenya mourns schoolgirls killed in suspected dorm arson attack
-
Stocks rally, oil slides on Mideast deal hopes
-
'All of us of are migrants,' pope says in Canary Islands
-
Switzerland split on immigration vote: four perspectives
-
Thai princess dies aged 47 after three years in hospital
-
Science fiction? Musk's lofty SpaceX goals unrealistic, skeptics say
-
Asia stocks up, oil down on Mideast deal hopes
-
From cage fights to the White House, UFC marches into mainstream
-
Pope ends Spain visit with migrant meetings
-
Ex-Tottenham owner sells art collection in blockbuster auction
-
Antarctic Peninsula sees record high June temperatures
-
US stocks rally, oil prices fall as Trump calls off fresh Iran strikes
-
SpaceX to make historic IPO that could make Musk a trillionaire
-
El Nino is back, but its effects vary widely
-
First leather bag from T-Rex cells to be auctioned in Paris
-
Four times as many icebergs calved from Greenland glaciers: study
-
Stocks rebound, oil wavers as traders weigh Iran, rates outlook
-
Niger criminalises same-sex relations with jail terms
-
Smuggled dinosaur fossils return to Mongolia after two decades
-
Over 260 Nigerians fleeing xenophobic attacks in S. Africa return home
-
Pope condemns 'indifference' towards migrants on Canaries trip
-
Sweden withdraws controversial proposal to jail 13-year-olds
-
Economic pressures 'manageable': Indonesian deputy finance minister
-
Scientists warn of record heat, threats to climate monitoring
-
Sweden withdraws disputed proposal to jail 13-year-olds
-
UK probes Ryanair over fees for parents to sit with children
-
Suspense surrounds Swiss anti-immigration vote
-
Rising costs and competition threaten GoPro
-
A taste of home: Zimbabwe restaurants revive traditional food
-
AI gold rush upends San Francisco housing market
-
The Indian workers training AI robots to take their jobs
Children among 11 killed in fire at Uganda blind school
Eleven people, mostly children, have been killed in a blaze that tore through a school for the blind in Uganda in the early hours of Tuesday, police and a government minister said.
"The cause of the fire is currently unknown but so far 11 deaths as a result of the fire have been confirmed while six are in critical conditions and admitted (to hospital)," the Uganda Police Force said on Twitter.
The disaster occurred at about 1 am (2200 GMT Monday) at the Salama School for the Blind in the Mukono district, east of the capital Kampala.
Police said an investigation had been launched into the cause of the inferno and more details would be released later.
"Most of the dead are children at the school and our sympathies go to the parents," Internal Affairs Minister General Kahinda Otafiire told AFP.
He said the school has been cordoned off as a "crime scene" and vowed that there would be a full investigation.
"As government we shall go to the root cause of the fire and if there are any culprits they will be apprehended and the law will take its course," he added.
- 'He is gone' -
Richard Muhimba, the distraught father of one of the dead children, told AFP: "No words can explain the pain I am going through.
"I visited my child on Saturday, he was in good health and in less than three days he is gone... Please give me time to go through this pain," said Muhimba, before hanging up.
A friend told AFP that the child was aged 15 and that Muhimba was a father of five.
Salama was built in April 1999 by the local government in Mukono and caters for children and young adults between the ages of six to 25.
The East African nation has suffered a string of deadly school fires in recent years.
In November 2018, 11 boys perished and another 20 suffered severe burns in a suspected arson attack at a boarding school in southern Uganda.
In April 2008, 18 schoolgirls burned to death along with one adult when a fire engulfed their dormitory at a junior school near the Ugandan capital.
In March 2006, at least 13 children were killed and several hurt when fire razed an Islamic school in western Uganda. In July the same year, six children died in a similar fire in the east.
P.Petrenko--CPN
