Nine people are confirmed dead after fire burnt their house in the early hours of Monday.
The incident occurred at Kasiba village, in Kyegonza Sub County in Gomba district.
Police suspects unknown arsonists to have set ablaze the house of Willy Bagoma in which he was sleeping together with his wife and seven children.
Gomba district police commander Mark Ajuna says all the nine relatives in the house died instantly. He says according to the way the bodies were found after the fire, the elders had attempted to run out but failed.
The other victims are Bagoma’s wife Barbara Nampiima and their sons, Gerald Ssebasengwa, Ivan Watulo, Sunday Momagoma, Enock Ssebatenda and twins Nakato and Wasswa, both aged one.
By Monday afternoon, one body had not been identified.
Ajuna says according to the investigations so far, the relatives could have been killed by a brother to Bagoma with whom they had a land wrangle. He however declined to disclose the names of
the suspect.
He says they have recovered bus tickets at the scene of crime, which indicate that two people had traveled from Mbale to Kampala by bus and the suspect has been living in Mbale since he left the village last month.
David Kalunga, the Kasiba village LC 1 chairperson, says he had once handled the land wrangle among the two brothers, but referred them to the office of the Resident District Commissioner. He says he suspects the brother of the deceased to have committed the crime, because when they referred them to higher offices, he instead left the village.
The bodies of the deceased were due for burial on Monday at the same village.
