KAMPALA – There as a stampede in Kasese town on Wednesday as six elephants from the nearby Queen Elizabeth National Park invaded the area.
The giant animals moved through parts of the town as they were being pursued by Uganda Wildlife Authority officials who fired bullets in the air.
According to residents, the animals had pitched camp at Kasese Municipal Health Centre III on Tuesday night and caused panic and stampede among the patients at the facility
According to Mr Reuben Arinaitwe, a resident of Kanyangeya, the elephants first invaded the village at 11pm before residents scared them away and they took the main road heading to the centre of Kasese town where they terrorized residents till morning until Uganda wildlife authority (UWA) officials came and forced them back to the national park at around 7.30 am.
“It was at around 11 pm when elephants invaded us in Kanyangeya village but we had to push them via the river Nyamwamba until they crossed to the main Kasese–Fort Portal highway before heading to town,” Arinaitwe said.
Mr. Arinaitwe noted that UWA must mind much about the lives and properties of the residents of Kasese town saying that every night elephants invade their homes but nothing has ever been done to them.
“We have lost so many things to these wild animals but we the residents have never seen UWA compensating us” he said.
Residents had surrounded the Kasese municipal health centre III with machetes and pangas threatening to kill them after spending sleepless night after six elephants invaded the town causing pain and fear of what next.
Ms. Melesi Kyakimwa, an attendant at Kasese municipal health centre told this reporter that everyone was running for her life as elephants invaded the place.
“We were here at around 4am when we had the animals outside the facility, we had to lock ourselves inside the facility until residents came and started throwing stones at them” she said.