Foul play may have caused a fire Monday night or Tuesday morning in a dormitory building in Uganda that killed 19 girls and two adults. The doors to the dorm were reportedly locked from the outside.


The New York Times:

“We suspect that bad people are responsible for the fire,” [school worker James] Kiiza said. “We cannot say it was due to electricity short circuit. And the door was locked from outside, which shows that someone could have first locked the door before setting the fire.”

Kiiza said there were few people around because workers have been on strike for more than a month because they have not been paid, a common occurrence in Uganda.

Read more

WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...

This year, the ground feels uncertain — facts are buried and those in power are working to keep them hidden. Now more than ever, independent journalism must go beneath the surface.

At Truthdig, we don’t just report what's happening — we investigate how and why. We follow the threads others leave behind and uncover the forces shaping our future.

Your tax-deductible donation fuels journalism that asks harder questions and digs where others won’t.

Don’t settle for surface-level coverage.

Unearth what matters. Help dig deeper.

Donate now.

SUPPORT TRUTHDIG