A building under construction at a prominent Ugandan church collapsed on Monday evening, leaving scores of worshippers trapped beneath the rubble in what has become one of the country’s most alarming structural disasters in recent memory.
The incident occurred at Holy City Entebbe Church, run by well-known preacher Brother Ronnie Makabai, along the Kawuku–Bwerenga Road in Katabi Town Council, Wakiso District.
Rescue Teams Work Through the Night
More than 100 people are reportedly feared trapped, with at least 22 already pulled from the debris and transferred to Entebbe Grade B Hospital facilities and Kisubi Hospital for medical attention.
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson SP Racheal Kawala confirmed that search and rescue efforts were still active following the collapse.
“Rescue operations are ongoing, with approximately 22 people rescued so far and being evacuated to Entebbe Grade B hospital facilities for medical attention,” Kawala said. “We are working to establish whether anyone remains trapped beneath the rubble.”
Joint teams from the Uganda Police Force and the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) were deployed to the site to support the operation.
No fatalities had been officially confirmed by Monday evening, and the full extent of injuries among those rescued was yet to be established.
Extension Reached Fourth Floor Before It Gave Way
Preliminary police findings indicate that the structure that gave way was not the main church building but an extension that had progressed to the fourth floor before it came down.
The ministry, which draws worshippers from Uganda and beyond, was in the middle of what appears to have been a significant construction project when the disaster struck.
“Investigations into the cause of the collapse are ongoing,” Kawala added.
Authorities said they had not yet determined whether the construction had the necessary building approvals or whether any structural problems contributed to the failure.
Under Uganda’s building control regulations, developers of multi-storey structures are obliged to obtain the relevant clearances and meet prescribed safety standards before and during construction.
Questions around compliance and construction supervision are expected to form a central part of the police inquiry, though no wrongdoing has been established at this stage.
The collapse comes days after a separate building disaster in Nairobi’s Eastleigh area, putting renewed pressure on building oversight authorities across the region.
For now, however, the immediate focus at the Kawuku site remains locating and recovering anyone still buried beneath the debris.
