Ugandan police charge party promoter over deadly NYE stampede

Ugandan police on Wednesday charged a nightclub promoter over a stampede at a New Year’s Eve party in the capital Kampala that killed 10 people, mainly children.

Police said Abby Musinguzi, a popular club promoter known for staging major festivals, was charged with nine counts of negligence occasioning in death following the crush at Freedom City mall.

His lawyer, Erias Lukwago, told AFP that Musinguzi had been transferred to Luzira, a maximum security prison outside the capital, ahead of his bail appeal.

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“He denies the charges,” Lukwago told AFP of Musinguzi, who is better known by his club persona Abitex.

“He was remanded to prison until January 10 when he will be back in court to hear his bail application.”

The party-goers were killed as revellers thronged a single exit to watch a midnight fireworks show.

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Police summons

Police said four other exits had been ordered shut by the promoters and investigators were looking at whether negligence was to blame for the loss of life.

“We have summoned other individuals including the shopping mall owner, the staff at the concert, the police and other security officers that were providing security at the mall,” police spokesman Fred Enanga told AFP.

“We shall also be talking to the parents of the children that died at the concert, the survivors, and other people we deem necessary for the investigations that are ongoing.”

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On Tuesday, President Yoweri Museveni ordered a speedy investigation into the crush and offered the families of the deceased five million Ugandan shillings ($1,340) to assist with funeral expenses.

Most of the victims were aged between 10 and 20, police said.

© Agence France-Presse