The death toll in a stampede at a shopping mall during New Year celebrations in the Ugandan capital has risen to 10, the country’s vice president said on Monday, while police charged the organizer of the event with murder.
Vice President Jessica Alupo, who visited the site in Kampala, told reporters that one more person died of their injuries on Sunday night after becoming trapped in the crush of hundreds of people trying to get out of the Freedom City shopping mall. Mall through a single gate when the emcee encouraged them to do so. Watch a fireworks display.
Four children, ages 10 to 17, were among the dead. Police said they were investigating how they accessed the event as minors must be accompanied to such gatherings by a responsible adult. Police said the organizer did not follow that guideline.
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Fireworks light up the sky as people react as they celebrate after the countdown to the new year in Kampala, Uganda on January 1, 2023. Just before the fireworks display there was a stampede that left 10 people dead.
(Badru Katumba/AFP via Getty Images)
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Police spokesman Patrick Onyango said organizer Abbey Musinguzi faces murder charges as “retaining charges” before being taken to court.
Uganda’s vice president said the government would pay $1,350 to each victim’s family to help with burial costs.
