Nine Killed in New Year’s Eve Stampede in Kampala, Uganda

The Freedom City Mall in Uganda’s capital city of Kampala hosted a New Year’s Eve party that went horribly wrong on Saturday night, as a stampede broke out after the fireworks display and killed at least nine people, including several children.

“It is alleged that the incident occurred at midnight when the event’s emcee encouraged attendees to go outside and watch the fireworks display. After the display ended, a stampede ensued resulting in the instant deaths of five people and injuries of several others,” Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesman Lucas Owoyesigyire said on Sunday.

“Emergency responders arrived on the scene and transported the injured individuals to the hospital, where nine were confirmed dead,” he said. 

Owoyesingyire said four of the victims died en route to the hospital, “largely due to suffocation.” He blamed “rash” actions and “negligence” for the stampede. The incident is under territorial police investigation.

“Most of the dead were juveniles, ages 10, 11, 14, and 20. There are several injured and our team of investigators are following up to get the exact number,” another Kampala police spokesman, Patrick Onyango, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). 

A survivor of the stampede, 27-year-old businesswoman Sylvia Nakalema, told AFP the stampede began when the huge crowd of partygoers inside the mall pushed their way outside to see the fireworks.

“There was a huge crowd. People begun pushing each other for space leading some to fall and the stampede ensued. Children were crying and there was chaos,” Nakalema said.

“I survived because I was pushed in a corner by the crowd. I felt [I was] losing breath, but I stayed put since I had no exit until the situation calmed down, but some people were already lying down gasping for breath,” she said.

A man named Haji Kimera told Voice of America News (VOA) on Sunday that two of his grandchildren were among the dead. The children were in sixth and seventh grade. Kimera said their father took them to Freedom City Mall to see the fireworks.

“People were forcing their way out through a narrow exit of the building to watch fireworks. Since almost the entire crowd wanted to move out at the same time, this caused commotion at the exit. Some people lost consciousness, which resulted in the deaths we are counting today,” local politician Julius Katongole told Uganda’s Daily Monitor on Monday.

Katongole said he was friends with the family of one confirmed victim, 30-year-old salon owner Maria Namyalo.