At least two dead in Uganda building collapse – report

At least two people were killed when part of a multi-storey building under construction in Kampala collapsed during a heavy rainstorm on Sunday (Sept. 5), according to the Uganda Red Cross.

Videos posted on social media showed construction workers and passers-by digging through debris with their bare hands and firefighters using cutting equipment to saw through buckled metal rods in a bid to reach people feared trapped.

The Red Cross said two bodies had been pulled from the rubble.

The building is next to the usually crowded Kisenyi Bus Terminal, a key transit hub in the Ugandan capital.

“It is alleged there were boda boda (motorcycle taxi) riders and a few people — since it’s raining — who might have sought shelter [in] the building and people fear they could be buried under the building,” said Uganda Red Cross official Irene Nakasiita. (AFP)