One Dead, 25 Rescued After Church Construction Site Collapse in Uganda

One person was killed and 25 others were rescued after a building under construction at a church collapsed on Monday in Uganda’s central district of Wakiso, police said Tuesday.

Rachael Kawala, spokeswoman for the Kampala Metropolitan Police, said a body had been recovered from the rubble. The collapsed structure was an extension of the main church building in Bwerenga, within Katabi Town Council.

The rescued people are receiving medical treatment at a hospital near the accident site. Emergency teams are continuing search and rescue operations as authorities work to determine whether anyone else remains trapped beneath the debris.

“Our emergency teams are working to establish whether there are any people or remains trapped beneath the debris. Meanwhile, investigations into the cause of the collapse are underway, with the authorities yet to establish the circumstances that led to the incident,” Kawala said.

Preliminary findings in an earlier police report indicated that the structure had reached the fourth floor when it collapsed.

A local resident, Aloysious Mutebi, said he worked at a nearby construction site and had been told that a crack appeared after concrete was poured for the second-floor slab.

“I work at a neighboring site, but I was told a crack appeared after pouring the slab on the second floor. It was ignored, and the building continued until the fourth floor when it collapsed. That's where the problem started,” he said.

The building reportedly did not have approved planning permission. Authorities are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the collapse and whether any construction regulations were violated.