By Sandra Birungi

Two children were burnt to death in their house after their mother locked them inside the house to go and usher in the new year in a nearby bar.

The two children in Kasanje Township, Wakiso District were left in the house by their mother, Ms. Aisha Namulondo. They were aged four-years-old and one-year-old children. Mr. Henry Luyimbazi, the father of the children, said his wife had left home last week saying she was going to Mpigi Hospital to attend to her aunt. “They discharged them on December 30 and I asked her to return home but she refused, saying she needed to enjoy the New Year,” he said.

According to an eye witness, Mr. Jonathan Gayila, a witness he saw smoke emerging from the house as he parked his car in the neighborhood. “I called the landlord, who quickly turned off the main switch because electric wires easily spread fire to neighboring homesteads. We raised an alarm and started hitting the doors of the house until they opened,” Mr Gayila said. “We used water and sand to put out the fire that we think was started by a candle or lantern,” he went on to explain.

The Kasanje Police Post boss, Mr Livingstone Ssendikadiwa, said theywent to put out the fire in a bid to save other people’s property. “We managed to put out the fire but unfortunately found the children dead,” he said.

The police boss said they took the children to Mulago mortuary for a postmortem.