KAMPALA: At least 31 people died in a blaze that engulfed an oil tanker after it was hit by another vehicle in a suburb of the Ugandan capital, police said yesterday.
“We can confirm 31 dead and over 10 others seriously injured in the inferno,” Kampala Metropolitan Police commander Andrew Kaweesa told AFP after inspecting the scene of the accident that took place on Saturday night. “Most of the victims were scooping fuel from the tanker after it was hit by a car and fuel spilled out,” Kaweesa said.
“People rushed there to take the fuel and in the process fire broke out engulfing the whole area and trapping them,” he added.
Charred bodies and limbs — some still scattered and others lined up neatly by rescue workers — covered the scene of the fire in Kampala’s Namungona suburb, an AFP photographer said. AFP
