Up to 230 members of doomsday sect killed in Uganda fire, police say

March 18, 2000
Web posted at: 4:50 p.m. EST (2150 GMT)

From staff and wire reports

KANUNGU, Uganda -- Up to 230 members of a religious sect that believed the world was coming to an end burned to death in a fire at their church, police said Saturday.

Initial reports differed as to whether the sect members had committed mass suicide or were lured to their deaths by their leader. There were also conflicting reports about what day the fire occurred -- Thursday or Friday.

The Associated Press reported that police said the fire happened in Kanungu, a small trading center about 217 miles southwest of Uganda's capital, Kampala.

"There were families inside, even small children," Jonathan Turyareeda, a local police officer, told Reuters.

Reuters quoted police as saying members of the sect set themselves on fire in a ritual mass suicide after several hours of chanting and singing.

Pius Muteekana Katunzi, an editor with the Sunday Monitor newspaper in Kampala, told CNN that some local reports said members of the sect marched to the church, locked themselves inside and then set themselves ablaze.

But a police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AP that it appeared that the sect leader -- Joseph Kibweteere -- lured his unwitting followers inside.

"Preliminary reports indicate that the leader of this sect lured the people inside the church and set it on fire," the officer said. It was unclear whether Kibweteere had also died.

A police spokesman told AP the sect was known to have about 240 members and was called the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God. The sect believed the world will end in the year 2000, he said.

Katunzi reported that last year members of the sect burned their property and sold their belongings. A police spokesman gave a similar account to Reuters.

Reports said Kibweteere had predicted the world would end last December 31. He subsequently changed that to December 31, 2000.

"Prior to this incident their leader told believers to sell off their possessions and prepare to go to heaven," the police spokesman said.

Local leaders said members of the sect slaughtered their cattle and feasted for a week, drinking a large supply of soft drinks and singing religious songs, the Monitor newspaper reported.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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