KASESE – Police together with residents have retrieved the body of a teenager who was buried alive in a pit in Kamughobe II village Kisinga Sub County in Kasese district on Friday.
Residents and police managed to pull out the body of 15-year-old Joel Mukungule from the pit on Sunday evening. The pit caved in as Mukungule and four others were searching for gold.
His colleagues escaped with minor injuries from the pit that is located on a piece of land belonging to Ernest Masereka, a resident of Kamughobe II village. Residents say there has been speculation about the existence of gold on Masereka’s land, adding that he has been hiring young boys for the last four years to help search for the treasure.
Julius Mukeri, the Kisinga Sub County LC III Chairperson, says that they found Mukungule’s body under a heavy heap of soil. He criticized Masereka for employing young children to engage in an activity that is only known to him.
The Rwenzori East Police spokesperson, Nelson Tumushiime, says that police have embarked on investigations to establish what was happening at the pit. Police handed the deceased’s body to his family in Bwera Sub County for burial.
