Africa-Press – Uganda. The man, his wife and their four children have been sleeping in a makeshift tent they erected at a pineapple farm
Police in Nakasongola District have retrieved remains of six family members suspected to have died of suffocation inside an air-tight makeshift tent at a pineapple farm in Kaleire village, Kalongo Sub-county.
Police have so far identified four of the victims as Sadik Lumu, 26, and resident of Nambere village in Kamira Sub County, Luweero District, his wife Fulumeera Kyazike, 24, and their daughters; Shadia Nalunkuma, 4, and six month-old Aisha Nalumu. Particulars of the other two children were not readily available by press time.
Police said the bodies were taken to Nakasongola Health Centre IV mortuary for postmortem as they wait for relatives to claim them.
Mr Issa Ssemogerere, the Savana Region Police spokesperson told this reporter on Wednesday that police will rely on the postmortem results to make an informed report but preliminary findings by the police investigations team point to possible suffocation as cause of death.
“The preliminary findings for the unfortunate incident point to possible suffocation. The six family members were residing in an air-tight tent where the investigation team recovered a charcoal stove with burnt out food. It is possible that the six family members suffocated to death as they remained enclosed inside the tent,” he said.
The area LCI chairman, Mr Steven Anyweine said they got to know about their deaths when other farm laborers reported for work in the morning.
“It is unfortunate that when the farm laborers report for work, they are totally isolated from the community and remain on the farm. We only got to know about the deaths when the other workers visited the farm and discovered that the tent was still very tightly closed yet it was already morning time. I was alerted as the area LCI to find out what had happened. It’s possible that they suffocated to death as a result of the charcoal stove that possibly consumed the oxygen inside the tent,” he said.
