Kampala: Mary Stuart Hall, commonly referred to as Box has caught fire leaving several properties destroyed and a yet to be established number of students injured.
The fire is reported to have started at 4:00am from the ground floor of the over 14 storey building.
“The fire started from the ground floor, those in upper rooms had to just jump off! The rescuers who came first looked for ladders to bring down students who were still stuck on the upper floors. The fire started at 4;00am but police came in 6;00am,” Makerere University LC V councilor Doreen Nyanjura reported.
According to Nyanjura who is at the scene, three canteens housed on the building are completely razed down, as the ground floor where they are located in most affected.
The ground floor also houses an extension of rooms, mostly for Guild Representative Councilors, finalists and Senior Common Room members.
Mary Stuart is the biggest hall in Makerere University and accommodates only females. It was nicknamed Box because of its shape.
Mary Stuart Hall was completed in 1953 and named after Bishop Stuart’s wife, who had worked hard for the betterment of women education during her time in Uganda.
The Hall’s first extensions were completed in 1959. Extensions included an enlargement of the Dining Hall and construction of a new wing, which included a delightful Junior Common Room and a small set of rooms for research students.
The hall is the biggest female hall known as “Box” due to the physical structure of the hall. It houses female students who appropriately refer to themselves “Boxers” and form the other half of the “Lumbox” solidarity with Lumumba Hall.