Eleven children died and six others were in critical condition on Tuesday after a fire broke out in the middle of the night in the dormitory of their school in central Uganda.
The fire broke out at around 1 am on Tuesday at the Salama School for the Blind in the village of Luga, about 45 kms east of the capital, Kampala, Ugandan police said.
“The cause of the fire is currently unknown but so far eleven deaths (…) have been confirmed and six people in critical condition have been admitted to hospital,” the police said in a statement.
The fire broke out while the blind students were sleeping. They were trapped by the building’s burglar-proof windows, which are required by government law, Ugandan Minister for Disabled Persons Hellen Grace Asamo told AFP. “They were unable to escape and were burnt."
Authorities were still trying to identify the victims on Tuesday evening.
The dormitory housed mainly girls attending primary school, but the school’s headmaster, Francis Kirube, told AFP that some disadvantaged boys from the village were also staying in a room next to the dormitory.
“We will investigate the cause of the fire and if there are culprits, they will be apprehended,” said Home Affairs Minister General Kahinda Otafiire.
Built in 1999, the Salama school is home to dozens of students, aged between 6 and 14, who are also housed there.
