Children Among Nine Killed In New Year’s Day Tragedy In Uganda

No fewer than nine people including children were killed during a stampede at Freedom City Mall in Kampala, Uganda.

It was learnt that the incident happened when crowds rushing to see a New Year’s firework display got stuck in a narrow corridor in a shopping mall near Uganda’s capital, police said.

Daily Mail reports that people started pushing through a passage in the Freedom City Mall just after clocks struck midnight, and a stampede ensued resulting in the instant deaths of five people and injuries to several others.

“Very many people got stuck as they were entering in large numbers to see fireworks. In doing so, many people suffocated to death. So far nine people are confirmed dead,” the police statement read.

“It is alleged that the incident occurred at midnight when the event’s emcee encouraged attendees to go outside and watch the fireworks display. After the display ended, a stampede ensued resulting into the instant deaths of five people,” Kampala Metropolitan Deputy Police Spokesperson ASP Luke Owoyesigyire said on Sunday.

Additionally, ASP Owoyesigyire disclosed that emergency responders transported several casualties to a hospital where a total of nine fatalities were confirmed following the crowd crush.

According to the report, several children were among those crushed to death in the new year festivities.

“The Katwe Territorial Police are investigating an incident of rush and neglect that occurred at a New Year’s Eve event at the Freedom City Mall Namasuba,” ASP Owoyesigyire said.

The bodies were transferred to City Mortuary Mulago, he added.

The celebrations to welcome in 2023 were the first in the east African country in three years, after restrictions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic and security issues.

“Most of the dead were juveniles, ages 10, 11, 14 and 20,” Kampala police spokesman Patrick Onyango said.

One of the survivors, businesswoman Sylvia Nakalema, said the stampede started “when we went to view the fireworks on the platform and while returning downstairs”.

“There was a huge crowd. People begun pushing each other for space leading some to fall and the stampede ensued,” she said.

“Children were crying and there was chaos.

“I survived because I was pushed in a corner by the crowd,” said the 27-year-old.

“I felt losing breath but I stayed put since I had no exit until the situation calmed down but some people were already lying down gasping for breath.”

Uganda’s NTV channel broadcast images of relatives of the dead gathered outside a morgue in the Ugandan capital on Sunday.

Source:- Sahara Reporters