A police officer speaking to some of the students who were admitted at Mukono Church of Uganda Hospital after police unintentionally teargassed them in their classrooms
Seventeen students are admitted at Mukono Church of
Uganda Hospital after the Police which was battling Robert Kyagulanyi’s
supporters fired teargas that entered into their classrooms.
Christopher Bwire, the headteacher of Mpoma Girls
School located at Mpoma village in Nama sub-county, Mukono district says that
at least 30 students got hurt as Police fired teargas into their classrooms
where they had entered for evening preps on Monday evening.
The Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman, Patrick
Onyango admits that Police fired teargas "around that area" as they were trying
to disperse Kyagulanyi supporters.
However, Onyango says that they did not intend to
hurt the students or fire teargas into the school. He instead blames the winds
which blew the teargas to the direction of the students’ classrooms.
Bwire adds that he was forced to call for ambulance services to evacuate 17 students who had fainted after failing to breathe, having eye
irritation and chest pains.
//Cue in: “Every other minute…
Cue out: … from the dispensary.”//
Some of the students who are currently admitted say that though they are now out of danger, they still feel headache and
chest pain.
//Cue in: “From the time…
Cue out: …breathing was difficult.”//
The affected students are Senior Four and
Senior Six candidates who are the only ones at school as the rest of the
classes are still on indefinite break which was caused by the the outbreak
of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
Sr. Maria Ndagire, the head of outpatient department
says that by the time they received the students, they were all unconscious but
by Tuesday morning, all of them were out of danger.