UGANDA, Kampala | Real Muloodi News | A devastating fire swept through the Nyumba Kubwa city building in Arua Park, downtown Kampala, yesterday, leaving traders with millions of shillings in losses. The fire, which broke out at around 11 am on Thursday 2nd January 2025, gutted 16 lock-up shops and injured at least four people.
The affected businesses included boutiques, sportswear shops, cosmetics, restaurants, and electronics. Eyewitnesses alleged that the fire started at a chemical store in the building while attendants were cooking.
“We are asking landlords to immediately stop people from cooking in such a big building; they are putting our lives in danger,” said Musa Namalengo, a witness.
Patience Ajenjo, secretary of Muno Village, emphasized the need for caution when using fire in buildings.
“We should not use fire recklessly. We also need the government to wake up. Enough is enough; the government should come up with a policy that all buildings should have smoke detectors and fire extinguishers.”
Godfrey Okobo, director of the police fire and rescue services, confirmed that investigations are ongoing to determine the cause of the fire.
“We have not registered any deaths; we are told some people sustained injuries,” Okobo said.
Okobo added that one of the destroyed shops had potentially harmful chemicals. “We witnessed one shop with chemicals, the types of which we did not know. When we were fighting the fire, our firefighters experienced irritation, and we are yet to confirm the chemical types.”
Godfrey Katongole, chairman of the Kampala Arcade Traders Association, called on the government to produce a comprehensive report on the fire and its causes.
“I am calling out to the police to come up with a comprehensive report showing the major fire causes and solutions on how this will be solved.”
Katongole also emphasized the need for firefighting equipment in public buildings. “We are tasking the landlord to immediately compensate all the traders who lost millions of shillings. We believe traders have been paying a lot of money. People that sustained injuries should be treated.”
The incident is the latest in a series of fires affecting buildings in Kampala. Traders and officials call for increased vigilance and safety measures to prevent such incidents.
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