What is happening? This has never been the case in the history of the country
if I am not mistaken! Children taking shelter in a classrooms hit by lightning
as well? How come this never happened when I was in primary school, and rains
used to pour?
Ocii
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Lightning kills 53 cattle
Thursday, 18th September, 2008
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Villagers skin some of the cattle killed by lightning on Wednesday at Katosi,
Kiganda sub-county in Mubende district
By Luke Kagiri and Fred Turyakira
A total of 53 head of cattle were killed by lightning on Wednesday at Katosi in
Kiganda sub-county, Mubende district.
The animals belonged to the assistant chief administrative officer of Mubende
district, Denis Ssebunya.
Ssebunya said only 20 of his cattle survived on the farm. “I could not believe
it. The trees remained standing and green but the cows underneath them died. It
was not even a fierce storm,” he said.
On Thursday morning, Ssebunya proposed burying the cows. But the residents
opted to bring in a traditional medicineman, who performed some rituals at the
scene. They then skinned the animals and shared the meat.
No other property or animal was destroyed in the village by the lightening.
Mubende Resident District Commissioner Stephen Nsubuga Bewaayo, who visited the
farm, regretted the loss.
“It is unfortunate. It is a great loss to the proprietor of this farm. We
believe it is lightning and nothing else,” he said.
In a separate incident, 27 pupils of Karungi Primary School in Masha
sub-county, Isingiro district sustained injuries when lightning struck their
school on Wednesday.
The wounded, some in critical condition, were rushed to Mbarara referral
hospital.
The headmaster of the school, Moses Kasozi, said they were struck by the
lightning when they took shelter from rain in the classrooms in the early
afternoon. He said the downpour lasted for almost one hour.
The pupils, who were visibly in agony at the hospital, were hit in the chest,
legs, head, shoulders and some were vomiting.
Kasozi said Shallon Ainembabazi, Ivan Ariho, Proscovia Amumpaire and Sarah
Nabukenya, all in Primary Six, were in critical conditions. The others, nine
from Primary Three, seven from Primary Six, five from Primary Five, five from
Primary Four and one from Primary Two, were steadily recovering.
He said the pupils were shocked, with some unable to walk or talk.
He said nothing was destroyed in the classrooms and other pupils were able to
continue with their studies.
The incident comes hardly a month after lightning killed three children in
Kyamuswa sub-county, Kalangala district. The children were part of a bigger
group that had sought shelter under a veranda when lightning struck, killing
them instantly.
Most schools in Uganda have not installed lightning conductors on buildings.
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