Uganda New Year Stampede Reports 9 Death
In a shopping center crush as revelers rang in the New Year in Uganda‘s capital, at least nine individuals died, the most of whom were between the ages of 10 and 20, according to authorities.
National police spokesman Luke Owoyesigyire claimed that after fireworks outside the Freedom City mall in Kampala, “a stampede erupted, resulting in the instant deaths of five persons and injury to several more people.”
On their route to the hospital, four more people passed away, “primarily from suffocation.”
Emergency personnel responded to the incident and took the injured people to the hospital, where nine people were later pronounced dead, according to Owoyesigyire.
The catastrophe was caused by “rash” actions and “negligence,” he continued.
The country in east Africa held its first New Year’s celebrations in three years, following restrictions brought on by the Covid-19 outbreak and security concerns.
According to Patrick Onyango, spokesman for the Kampala police, “the majority of the dead were youths, ages 10, 11, 14, and 20.”
Our team of investigators is investigating to find out how many people were hurt precisely.
Businesswoman Sylvia Nakalema, one of the survivors, stated that the stampede began “when we went to witness the fireworks on the platform and when returning downstairs.”
The gathering was really large. The rush started as people started shoving one other for space, causing several to tumble, she said.
There was commotion and wailing children.
The 27-year-old claimed, “I survived because the crowd shoved me into a corner, I felt like I was about to pass out, but I stayed where I was since I couldn’t get out till things settled down, but other people were already lying down gasping for air.”
On Sunday, the NTV channel in Uganda aired footage of mourners gathered in front of a mortuary in the nation’s capital.
At Kampala’s Kansanga amusement park in 2009, a stampede resulted in one fatality and three injuries.
