Four pupils die in suspected poisoning at Kampala school
Police are investigating the deaths of four girls aged nine to 11 after they fell ill with stomach complications.
Police in Kampala are investigating the deaths of four pupils from Ta-Alim Primary School and Quran Memorisation Centre in Kisasi, who fell ill with stomach complications and were found to have suspected poisoning. The dead are 11-year-olds Mariam Nakitende, Rwahim Kiruta and Nasuna Nusufa, and nine-year-old Nabeta Failuzi. Police have closed the school and declared the premises a crime scene.
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Rachel Kawala said detectives would visit the village where oranges the pupils reportedly ate had come from. Police medical teams are conducting postmortem examinations at Mulago City Mortuary to establish the exact cause of death. The school director, Musa Suna, told local leaders the pupils had eaten oranges shared by a 12-year-old P.4 pupil from Wakiso district.
The illness began after one pupil complained of stomach pain on Monday night and was given paracetamol, and her condition worsened as other pupils showed similar symptoms. The school director and dormitory matron first took the affected pupils to a nearby clinic before parents began collecting their children. Some parents said doctors suspected food poisoning, but the family of one child said the school administration had not explained what happened.
Why it mattersParents of the affected pupils are waiting for the postmortem results and an explanation from the school administration about what their children ate.