New years celebrations went bad very quickly after a stampede at Freedom City left 9 people dead. These were killed during a crowd surge at midnight as they went out to see fireworks.
The incident has in turn left families in tears as they narrated the tragedy at the famous mall. Prosy Namulindwa, mother of Daniella Kibuuka and Daniel Kibuuka told her tale.
She said she left home with her four children at around 4:30 pm and made their way to freedom city. The kids went to the pool which the operators closed by 8 pm.
Prosy said they left early at 11 pm to go outside the mall so the fireworks could find them there. As they left, the MC announced a small exit to be used by those interested in seeing the fireworks.
The small exit got locked and this made them get stuck in a scuffle that separated her from her two older children. She got the younger ones to safety and started looking for the older ones who she failed to find.
She inquired from a police officer who then directed her to Mulago hospital where victims were taken. However, a boda boda rider directed her to a local clinic where other victims were taken.
When she got there, she found her daughter lying lifeless among other bodies but she didn’t know the whereabouts of her son. She then continued to another clinic in Kabowa and found her son’s body there.
Another Ms. Joweria Namayanja, a sister to one of the victims, the late Maria Namyalo told her story.
She said they waited for her sister until 4 am but she didn’t come home. Ms. Joweria then called her sister’s phone to which a stranger answered and then switched it off immediately.
She then called a friend who told her about the Freedom City stampede adding that victims were taken to Mulago. She rushed to Mulago and to Freedom City but didn’t find her sister’s body until she went to City Mortuary where she found the body of her sister.
Reports revealed that she had died at one of the clinics she had been taken to for first aid. These and many more families have asked the government to investigate the matter.
