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27 die when church wall falls in Uganda
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-09 08:46
A brick wall at a partly constructed church in Uganda's capital collapsed
onto the congregation Wednesday during an evening thunderstorm, killing at least
27 people and injuring dozens more, authorities said.
Rescuers and
civilians try to lift the rubble in the ruins of a church, Wednesday,
March 8, 2006 after the roof collapsed during a service in Kampala,
Uganda. The roof of a church in the Ugandan capital collapsed during a
service Wednesday evening, killing at least 21 people.
[AP] |
The Protestant evangelical church in a
Kampala slum was under construction, and parishioners set up a wood-and-tin
shack inside the unfinished structure so they could conduct services, regional
police Commander Grace Puryagumanawe said.
"We're going to investigate the poor building standards. We have already
collected samples of the materials used," he said.
Fire and rescue chief Joseph Mugisa said the wall collapsed during a
thunderstorm with high winds and heavy rains, and 27 people were killed.
"It was completely chaotic. Everyone was trying to get out; people were
yelling and shouting; people were trying to carry out the injured," Mugisa said.
Kampala's Mulago Hospital received 86 injured people, deputy director Isaac
Exati said. The hospital trauma room has only 20 beds and most of the wounded
lay moaning on the floor, screaming for their families. Hundreds of relatives
gathered outside the hospital waiting for word of the survivors' conditions.
"We were in the church for the service and it was raining very heavily," said
Nsubuga Hannington, who was in the hospital with a minor head injury. "All of a
sudden, I heard a crash and the wall fell down."
He said he was knocked unconscious and woke up under a pile of bricks.
The police and the fire and rescue service said they were almost certain that
all the dead and injured were removed from the debris.
The slum has no electricity and witnesses who first came out of the
neighborhood said rescuers had burned plastic chairs to provide light for those
digging through the wreckage. They said that after the chairs had all been
burned rescuers had to give up the search until dawn.
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