KAMPALA – The Police have confirmed the deaths of at least nine people, after a pandemonium that broke out at the Freedom City Mall in Kampala during New Year festivities.
“It is alleged that the incident occurred at midnight when the event’s MC encouraged attendees to go outside and watch the fireworks display.
“After the display ended, a stampede ensued-resulting into the instant deaths of five people,” said Kampala Metropolitan deputy Police Spokesperson – Luke Owoyesigyire, .
He added that emergency rescue team had ferried several casualties to a hospital, where a total of nine fatalities were confirmed following the crowd crush.
Several juveniles were killed during the Freedom City stampede at the transition into the New Year as millions of Ugandans joined the rest of the world to welcome 2023 with festivities for the first time in over two years of Covid-19 restricts.
“The Katwe Territorial Police are investigating an incident of rush and neglect that occurred at a New Year’s Eve event at the Freedom City Mall – Namasuba,” said Owoyesigyire, adding that the bodies of the yet to be identified victims had been transferred to City Mortuary Mulago.
Earlier on Saturday, revellers in their thousands – majority of whom were children and women were thronging the venue to attend the ‘party after party’ concert, Abbey Musinguzi, alias Abtex, had organised.
The event attracted several musicians, including – Eddy Kenzo, Pallaso, Fik Femaica, Grenade, Geoffrey Lutaaya, Irene Namatovu, Chris Evans, Carol Nantongo, Yaled, Liam Voice, Feffe Bussi, Haj Haruna Mubiru, Nina Roz, and Ykee Benda. Others singers were Fresh Kid, Halima Namukula, Martha Mukisa as well as comedians.
Meanwhile, the Mbarara City Probation office registered four cases of abandoned new born during the festive week.
The four babies were abandoned at Ruharo Health Centre and Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, according to Henry Mushabe – City Senior Probation officer, who added that one case was filed on Christmas Eve as three others followed within the same week.
Mushabe said the trend of abandoning new born babies in the city was cropping up because his office was receives two to four cases a week, since October – concluding that the vice was an effect of either early pregnancies in children or hard economic situations.
Mushabe revealed that since October a total of 27 cases of abandoned children had been registered, noting that most babies were discovered in dustbins, shop verandahs or compounds of health facilities.
He advised local leaders to watch over pregnant girls in their areas.
Halson Kagure – the Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital PRO revealed that the facility was stranded with a two weeks-old baby, in addition to a body of a four-months old, in the mortuary who died on Thursday.
The two babies were found in the hospital compound on different days before and after Christmas.
Additional reporting by URN
