Police arrest school director after child dies from hot tea burns

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Police have arrested the director, Elizabeth Aluku, of a nursery school in Kawanda, Wakiso district, following the death of a four-year-old boy who sustained fatal burns after falling into a saucepan of hot tea.

Addressing journalists on Monday, April 20, 2026, at police headquarters in Nakawa, Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Racheal Kawala said the child, a pupil at Sportless Kindergarten and Daycare in Nabweru division, Nansana municipality, was injured on April 10, 2026, after reportedly falling into hot tea inside a classroom.

“The suspect we are holding is the school director,” Kawala said, adding that preliminary findings indicate the children had been left unattended at the time of the incident.

“It is alleged that there was no teacher in the classroom as staff had moved to another room,” she said.

The child sustained severe burns to the lower body and was later pronounced dead.

Kawala questioned the circumstances under which hot liquids were brought into a classroom with unsupervised children, describing the incident as preventable.

“Why would you bring hot food or tea into a classroom when there is no one to attend to the young children?” she asked.

She said the incident should serve as a wake-up call to school proprietors to prioritise safety, particularly in handling hot food and securing cooking areas.

Police, fire and rescue teams will begin inspections of school kitchens to enforce safety compliance.