Uganda probing church collapse
2006-03-09 17:30
Kampala - Ugandan authorities said on Thursday they suspected illegal construction was to blame for the collapse of a church roof that killed 21 worshippers during a heavy thunderstorm, the third and worst such disaster since 2002.
More than 200 born-again Christians were attending a prayer service at the City of the Lord church in Kampala on Wednesday when torrential rain struck about 19:00. Nearly 100 people were badly hurt and rushed to hospitals.
Rescuers said the number inside the unfinished building had been swollen by people seeking shelter from the downpour.
Fire brigade chief Joseph Mugisa said: "Obviously, everything went wrong here."
He said that city bureaucrats would be investigated to find out if they had approved the structure for use.
Six others died in two collapses
He said: "I just want to believe it was not permitted. This is the third church incident we have had under similar circumstances: uncompleted, poorly made, occupied, and also collapsing during or after a heavy downpour."
Four people were killed in 2002 after a church collapsed in Makindye, another suburb of the capital.
A year later, two people died after another Kampala church collapsed.
Mugisa said: "Certainly, such a thing should not be permitted to continue.
"Construction can't take place within the city without the permission of the city authorities and the city authority is everywhere."
There was no immediate word from city authorities. Ugandans said corrupt local officials often took bribes to overlook sub-standard construction, and accidents were common.
Worshippers escape from rubble
Mugisa said no more bodies had been found at the site on Thursday and the search had been ended.
Police struggled to hold back hundreds of residents who crowded the muddy, flooded area on Wednesday as rescuers fought to free the victims.
Neighbour Wilson Muhoozi, who helped worshippers escape from the rubble, said the building had collapsed in two sections.
He said: "People were being passed through the windows of the church, so we had to pick them up. My house was full.
While we were calling police, the other side of the church fell down."
At least two-thirds of Uganda's 27 million people are Christians. A growing number attend evangelical churches that had sprung up across the east African country.