KAMPALA (The Thursday Times) — Police in Uganda are investigating the deaths of four primary school girls in Kampala who fell ill at school on Tuesday, in what officers described as circumstances suspected to be related to poisoning. The school’s head teacher has been arrested to help with inquiries.
The girls, aged between nine and 11, were pupils at Ta’aliim Primary School and Quran Memorisation Centre in Kikaaya parish, in the city’s Kawempe division. Three died at their family homes after being sent home unwell, and the fourth died while receiving emergency treatment at Kasangati Hospital, according to local reports.
Racheal Kawala, the spokesperson for the Kampala Metropolitan Police, said detectives were working to establish whether the children had suffered chemical or food poisoning. “Police investigations are actively ongoing to establish the exact circumstances surrounding these tragic deaths,” she said. “Further updates will be provided as more actionable information becomes available.”
Preliminary police findings put the start of the incident at about 2pm on Tuesday. Crime scene officers were sent to the school, and post-mortem examinations are being carried out to establish the cause of death. No results have been released, and no one has been charged.
Latif Ssebaggala, a former member of parliament for Kawempe South, said a pupil had come back from a short break with oranges and shared them with younger pupils. “It is suspected that the fruits were shared among eight pupils,” he said. The school has said that five of the children who ate the fruit began vomiting, including the four who died.
At least one other child was reported to be in a critical condition in hospital. Investigators recovered orange peel at the school, and police said detectives would visit the village the fruit came from. They have not said whether the oranges were contaminated or caused the deaths.
The deaths follow other recent school food scares in Uganda. In the eastern district of Luuka, 26 pupils at Buwanda Primary School were taken to hospital after eating white ants, and a separate outbreak in the district killed a 10-year-old girl.
