A deadly fire outbreak that killed 11 children and injured six others at a school in central Uganda yesterday has reawakened fire safety concerns in schools in the east African country.
The 1 a.m. fire that occurred in the Mukono district neighbouring Uganda’s capital city Kampala engulfed a girl’s dormitory, housing 26 visually impaired children, leaving 11 dead and six critically injured, according to police.
Luke Owoyesigyire, spokesperson of Kampala Metropolitan Police, in a statement, said an investigation has started to establish what caused the fire at the Salam School of the Blind.
Francis Kinubi, head teacher of the school, which has a total population of 76 pupils, was quoted by the Observer, a local newspaper, as saying that the fire started from the side without power connectivity, making it hard to say that it was sparked by any power fault.
James Birungi, head of military intelligence, said while there are a lot of allegations regarding the cause of the fire, investigations will lead to the root cause. Birungi, who visited the scene, said they have heard the school has had some land wrangles and some internal management misunderstandings.
XINHUA
2 (LONDON, 26 OCT, AFP) – Rishi Sunak will today face off against opposition lawmakers for the first time as British prime minister, in a likely raucous parliamentary session following weeks of political turmoil.
It comes after he took power Tuesday as the first UK leader of colour, vowing to repair the damage wrought by outgoing leader Liz Truss through her disastrous budget, which sparked economic carnage.
Pledging also to unite his fractured Conservatives, and an increasingly unimpressed country, Sunak began his tenure by re-appointing a host of ministers from his predecessor’s top team.
The former finance minister retained Jeremy Hunt as chancellor of the exchequer, bidding to keep markets on side after he stabilised the situation with his initial appointment nearly two weeks ago.
He also kept Truss’s foreign, defence, trade and culture ministers, among others, as well as controversially bringing back recently fired Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
AFP
3 (DHAKA, 26 OCT, AFP) – Bangladesh rescue workers found the bodies of four missing crew of a dredger boat, taking the death toll from Cyclone Sitrang to 28 as millions remained without power, officials said today.
Cyclones — the equivalent of hurricanes in the Atlantic or typhoons in the Pacific — are a regular menace in the region but scientists say climate change is likely making them more intense and frequent.
Cyclone Sitrang made landfall in southern Bangladesh on Monday but authorities managed to get about a million people to safety before the monster storm hit.
With winds of 80 kilometres (55 miles) per hour, it still left a trail of devastation in the country’s densely populated, low-lying coastal region, which is home to tens of millions of people.
The government said nearly 10,000 tin-roofed homes were either ‘destroyed or damaged’ and crops on large swathes of farmland were wrecked at a time of record-high food inflation.
AFP
4 (BERLIN, 26 OCT, DPA) – The German government has reached a compromise in the dispute over Chinese investment in a container terminal in the port of Hamburg, according to sources close to the government.
Chinese firm Cosco last year made a bid to take a 35% stake in the terminal.
According to the deal, Cosco’s stake will be limited to 24.9%.
Several ministries expressed concern over the planned acquisition because it involves critical infrastructure.
China’s Cosco operates the world’s fourth-largest container shipping company. Its ships have been calling at the Tollerort terminal in Hamburg for more than 40 years.
In return for the stake in the terminal, Cosco had wanted to make the CTT a preferred transhipment point in Europe.
DPA
5 (HONG KONG, 26 OCT, AFP) – Hong Kong authorities have arrested two men for laundering funds worth HK$3.5 billion ($446 million) by reselling precious metals, one of the city’s largest money-laundering cases, officials said today.
The two were involved in a scheme selling around eight tonnes of precious metals — mostly gold and palladium — between 2020 and 2021 for returns ‘incommensurate’ with their backgrounds, customs official Rita Li said at a press conference.
It was a record for money-laundering cases busted by Hong Kong Customs, Li said, although the police have cracked larger cases.
Precious metals can be bought and sold anonymously in Hong Kong and are attractive to criminals because of their high value, small size and ease of transportation, Li added.
‘Unlawful elements can easily use proceeds from crime to buy precious metals and then resell them, or conduct multi-layer transactions, to launder money,’ she said.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
