/ 1 August 2006

Fire kills six at Uganda primary school

A fire at a Ugandan primary school killed six boys trapped in a dormitory, officials said on Tuesday.

A charcoal stove placed by a wall started the blaze late on Monday. Fire then spread through a building of the army school in Jinja, about 80km east of the capital Kampala.

”We think heat set fire to the paint on the walls, then it quickly spread to the curtains and roof,” said army spokesperson Major Felix Kulayigye. ”Six boys died, all aged six or seven.”

Fatal fires are common in Central Africa, where few buildings have extinguishers and most communities lack fire-fighters. — Reuters