WAKISO — Three people have died, and six others survived with injuries after a fire destroyed a residential house in Nansana West 1A, Nansana Municipality, Wakiso District, in the early hours of Monday.
The deceased have been identified as Nanyombi Violet, reportedly the landlady, and her tenants Namulondo Annet and Bulali Isabirye.
Police said the bodies were badly burned and that forensic procedures are being carried out as investigators work to establish the circumstances surrounding the fire.
Police spokesperson ACP Kituuma Rusoke said preliminary information indicates that the fire may have been deliberately started by one of the victims.
“We are treating the incident as an arson because of the nature of information filtering in from the ground. It is said that one of the victims could have lit the fire intentionally,” Rusoke said.
He said investigators had recovered written material from the scene which is being examined as part of the inquiry.
“There was violence involved,” Rusoke said, adding that preliminary accounts indicate that some occupants were allegedly forced out of the house shortly before the fire.
A separate account from Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Racheal Kawala said the fire allegedly started in the landlady’s room.
“It is alleged that the owner of the house, known as Nanyombi Violet, set fire to her room and pushed her daughter outside. Immediately after pushing her daughter outside, the fire broke out,” Kawala said.
Police have not established the motive for the suspected arson, and investigators are examining the events that preceded the fire.
The six survivors were evacuated from the scene for medical treatment, according to Police.
Police and fire and rescue personnel responded to the incident and extinguished the fire.
Authorities have cautioned against drawing conclusions about what happened before investigations are completed.
“Let’s give our investigators time to unpack all the facts, and then we communicate much more later,” Rusoke said.
The incident occurred at about 1 a.m. on Monday, according to reports from police officials.
Investigations are continuing to establish how the fire started, what happened immediately before it, and the circumstances that led to the deaths.
