/ 24 May 2000

CULT MEMBERS SUFFERED NEUROLOGICAL SHOCK

PATHOLOGISTS have said that neurological shock resulting from burns was the cause of death among members of a bizarre religious sect in Western Uganda in March. A senior police officer said that this was contained in the first analytical report on the Kanungu inferno, in which about 530 people died 17 March in a church in south-western Uganda. Leaders of the cult, known as “The Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God”, are believed to have masterminded the fire. Parts of the report, whose full details are not yet made public, were availed by the acting director of the criminal investigation department, Reassume Opio during an interview in Kampala. Opio said the report indicated that windows of the Kanungu church were bolted from outside while the fire, which started from within the building, was caused by petrol. He said pathologists say they found no sign of bombs or grenades used but petrol was discovered in the ashes.