Forty-one people, including 38 students, were killed when an Islamist extremist group attacked a secondary school.
According to Ugandan military sources, the assailants, thought to be part of the Allied Democratic Forces, a group with ties to ISIS, also abducted six individuals, transporting them across the border into the Congo.
Julius Isingoma, a student survivor of the horrific incident at the Lhubiriha Secondary School in Uganda, told of how he disguised himself as dead using blood. He explained how he lay amidst the lifeless bodies of his schoolmates, smearing their blood over himself. When the attackers checked for a pulse, they believed he was dead and left him.
The terror began with students barricading themselves inside the boys’ dormitory. Despite their efforts, the attackers breached the door and started shooting. Isingoma attempted to hide in the ceiling but fell, drawing the attackers’ attention, which led to his desperate attempt to play dead.
Another survivor, Godwin Mumbere, hid under a bed and was shielded by the bodies of his deceased classmates. Despite getting shot in the hand and the dormitory catching fire, he survived.
The attackers used a combination of guns, hammers, and axes in their deadly rampage, leading to deaths through shooting, burning, and hacking. Among those who lost their lives were a school guard and two members of the community.
The Mpondwe mayor confirmed the retrieval of 41 bodies. Survivors, including a critically injured girl, were rushed to a hospital for medical care.
