A suspected grenade explosion has left five people injured and admitted to Mulago hospital in Kampala, the police have said.
According to the Kampala Metropolitan Area deputy Police spokesperson, Luke Owoyesigyire, the incident happened at Industrial zone, Kagugube,Central division in Kampala city when an explosive ordinance blasted and injured five people.
“It is alleged that Jennifer Birungi’s daughter Katusiime was given second hand clothes by a friend only identified as Anita, who is in Dubai. The complainant, Birungi, said as they sorted the clothes in their home yard, they saw a metallic bottle with a blue colour and suspected it to be an explosive. The grand daughter threw it in the dust bin but another grand daughter secretly removed it from the bin and brought it back to the house,”Owoyesigyire said.
According to police, the child started playing with it and in the process it was opened , consequently, it exploded injuring five people in the house.
Owoyesigyire identified the victims as Jennifer Birungi, 45 a KCCA cleaner, Harriet Kabasinguzi, 25, Poni Elizabeth, Mitchell Nakandi and Vanessa Birungi, 10.
“The incident is being investigated with the view of identifying the exact origin of the explosive ordnance. The five victims are currently admitted at the National Referral Hospital at Mulago for treatment. Our task team has recovered pieces of the explosive, which have been submitted to experts for analysis,” he said.
The police however appealed to members of the public to report any items that look suspicious to relevant authorities for safe handling.
Past incidents
In October, a similar explosion killed two children and injured others in Nakaseke district.
In an incident that happened at Ssegalye village, Semuto Sub County in Nakaseke District, saw children pick an explosive ordinance from an unidentified place and started playing with it.
It later exploded.
Such incidents of explosion have on several occasions happened in areas which were in the past affected by wars.