A young woman and her five-month-old baby were killed this morning in a rain storm that hit Masaka town.
22-year-old Sarah Nakintu of Nsereko Zone in Nyendo had just dropped off her older child, Brenda, at Patience Nursery School, when disaster struck. The area LC1 chairperson, Remmy Kasule, says Nakintu was walking past a dilapidated building when it strong winds caused it to collapse on her and her baby. Kasule says the two died on the spot at about 8 a.m.
The collapsed building belongs to a resident of Nsereko Zone, only identified as Katayira. Mary Nayigga, one of tenants of the residential property, says she has complained consistently about the poor state of the structure, but Katayira has done nothing to make repairs.
Mr. Katayira could not be found to comment on this morning's disaster.
Noah Sserunjogi, the Southern Regional Police Spokesperson, says several other buildings in the area are in a poor state. He blames the Masaka municipal authorities of doing nothing to close condemned buildings and of failing to uphold basic construction standards.
Sarah Nakintu and her baby are lying in Masaka Referral Hospital, awaiting the completion of a postmortem and burial.
