JINJA – A combined rescue team of residents, police and Uganda Red Cross was by Wednesday evening working around the clock to rescue workers trapped in the debris of a storied building under construction that collapsed in Jinja Town.
Two bodies had been recovered by press time while 10 workers had been rescued after the building collapsed at around 5pm on Wednesday.
The Kiira Regional Police Commander, Mr Onesmus Mwesigwa, who was at the accident scene told journalists that they were doing all that was within their means to rescue the trapped people.
Jinja RDC Eric Sakwa said that the building had 37 workers.
“We expect more bodies because the debris is heavy and we need more equipment to lift it,” he said.
Mr Simon Kasirye, one of the residents, attributed the collapse of the building to alleged poor workmanship.
“They used little cement and substandard iron bars of 12 millimetres, instead of 16 millimetres. The concrete was also weak,’’ he said.
The Jinja Central Division Chairperson, Mr Mubarak Kirunda, attacked police for delaying to rescue the trapped workers in the building.
“People are using their hands to rescue the trapped workers with no excavators on ground,” he said.
The Jinja Municipality Speaker, Mr Moses Bizitu, said the building was constructed without supervision from the municipal council engineer.
“There was less supervision, less cement, poor workmanship and police delayed to rescue the situation.
“People are using hoes and axes to retrieve the dead and survivors,’’ he said.
