At least 15 grain stores, and a number of homes were reduced to ashes in a Friday afternoon fire that gutted Kakajo zone, Kisenyi parish in Central division of Kampala.
Police firefighters battled the fire that started a few minutes to 2pm for five hours.
The owners of the burnt grain millers as well the residents whose homes were destroyed could not establish the actual cause of the blaze. However, locals gave contradicting answers as some attributed the fire to a charcoal stove while others claimed it was an electric short circuit.
Kenneth Edson Nuwasimire said that all his milling machines were destroyed together with tonnes of agricultural products such as millet, sorghum, soya and silverfish that were just awaiting grinding. Nuwasimire could not estimate the his loss since he had just stocked the products.
James Kiyondo says that he has lost goods worth over 70 million shillings in the fire. He adds that he was just stocked tons of sorghum and soya bean which he was going to mill.
Mohammed Musa Mulekwa says that the fire would have been contained if the firefighting police had come well equipped with enough water.
He adds that even when they came there was no space for police to reach the fire to fight it since most of the homes and the milling machine are so close to one another.
Moses Byansi says that there are many other houses that have caught fire leaving hundreds of people homeless.
By press time Police was still battling the fire which was coming up again in other parts of the area.
There has also been deployment of police and military police around the area to safe guard people’s belongings.
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