MUBENDE: One pupil is confirmed dead as 13 pupils cheat death in Rubimbiri Sub County after a strong bolt of lightning hit Maaya Government Primary School in Rubimbiri sub-county, Mubende district.
Mubende Post understands that Ten pupils who sustained injuries were admitted to Rubimbiri Healthy and four were rushed to Mubende Regional Referral Hospital in critical condition.
Joshua Lutegwa, the school headteacher of Maaya Primary School said the deceased was in class as they were in a school meeting on Monday when the lightning struck during a heavy downpour.
Lutegwa says that they had pupils screaming reaching the classrooms some of the buildings had clacks and some pupils had collapsed and were rushed to the hospital for medical examination and treatment.
Lutegwa identified the affected pupils as Gerald Ndyamuhaki of P.4, Metron Kamukama of P6, Rosemary Nfitundinda of P6, and Joshua Kaluhanga of P6, who tragically died on the spot.
“Kaluhanga was in a coma, but when doctors at Mubende Referral Hospital examined him, they confirmed he was already dead,” the headteacher said.
Gaad Ssebagyenzi, Chairperson of the Parents and Teachers Committee, says many schools in the sub-county don’t have lightning arresters, which expose the population to thunderbolt strikes.
Sources said pupils were in classes P.5 and P.6 when lightning struck the school building. The school building reportedly didn’t have an earthing system or lightning arrester.
This is not the first time the school has been struck by lightning.
A natural resource management specialist at Uganda’s National Forestry Authority (UNFA), Marx Kabi, said the felling of trees was another major cause of lightning strikes in Uganda.
“People have cut down trees, which used to absorb or provide a channel for lightning transmission. Most areas are now just covered with shrubs,” he said.
