At least three dead in Ugandan building collapse

At least three people were killed Sunday in Kampala, Uganda, when part of a multi-storey building under construction collapsed due to torrential rains, according to the Red Cross.

Videos posted on social media show workers and bystanders searching the rubble for potential survivors.

Irene Nakasita, a spokeswoman for the Ugandan Red Cross, reported that three dead bodies were found in the rubble of the four-storey building. He added that two girls, aged five and nine, were rescued alive.

The collapsed building is located next to the usually crowded Kisenyi Bus Terminal.

“Some say that wedding drivers (steam taxis) and other people – during the rains – may have taken refuge in the building and people are afraid they might be buried,” Nacasieta said.

He said “search and rescue” operations were continuing. Emergency services continued to search the site at dusk with the help of two bulldozers.

Police spokesman Luc Oysigier said the collapsed building had buried “cars, motorbikes and workers”, but that the number of people trapped was still unknown.

str-txw / yad / es-meb / lda