Ugandan police have said at least nine people including a 10-year-old boy suffocated to death during a stampede to see a New Year’s firework display.
The victims got stuck in a narrow corridor in a shopping mall near Uganda’s capital, police said in a statement.
Big gatherings for New Year’s Eve were allowed for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
People had been celebrating the New Year at the mall which is on a highway linking Kampala to Entebbe airport.
In the process, people started pushing through a passage in the Freedom City Mall just after clocks struck midnight.
An eyewitness, Ramadhan Aphongo, told local broadcaster NTV that a friend was among the victims: “She was enjoying, she was having fun, but due to loss of breath… eventually she died.”
“Very many people got stuck as they were entering in large numbers to see fireworks. In doing so, many people suffocated to death. So far nine people are confirmed dead,” the police statement read.
Source: Africafeeds.com
