Three family members have been confirmed dead after being electrocuted in Kasenge Trading Centre, in the early hours of Thursday.
The deceased have been identified as Asiimwe Babirye (35), Annet (24), and Jeremiah Sekalenzi (5).
Preliminary investigations by the territorial police at Nsangi indicate that the house where the deceased family was renting had no power, so they illegally tapped power from the neighborhood.
According to deputy spokesperson for Kampala Metropolitan, Luke Owoyesigyire, it all started when Annet washed clothes and hang wet clothes on one of the wires that had a link to power connection. The electricity shocked her.
With her hands remaining in contact with the live wire, she made alarm, which attracted her sister Babirye Asiimwe who came out of the house to help her. Asiimwe touched her sister with bare hands to save her and was also electrocuted.
Asiimwe too made an alarm and her five-year-old child, Sekalenzi, who came to help his mother too touched his mother and was electrocuted.
By the time the neighbours came and disconnected the wire from the power, the trio had died instantly.
“Their bodies have been conveyed to the city mortuary Mulago for a post mortem. We convey our condolences to the relatives of the deceased,” Owoyesigyire said.
Following the incident, Owoyesigyire has cautioned members of the public to avoid illegal power connections.
“It is a criminal offence to illegally connect your residence to the national grid,” he said.
Owoyesigyire noted that police is working with power distributors to arrest people that have illegal connections in the area and Kampala Metropolitan Area.
“The detectives have commenced investigations with a view of arresting the person, who illegally connected the residence to power,”
