A mother and her three children have died after fire gutted their house in Lugala-Ssugu village, Mpatta Sub-County in Mukono District. The incident happened in the wee hours of Thursday morning.

The deceased names are their mother, Jamila Namusisi, 26, and her three children; Moreen Namusoke, Shamira Namirembe and one Shakira.

Locals who reportedly found a jerrican of petrol abandoned at the door, suspect that the house was set on fire by an unidentified person who poured petrol before setting the house on fire.

“It was around midnight when we had gone to sleep and smelt petrol and immediately saw fire at Namusisi' house,” Ms Juliana Nakakande, the mother to Namusisi, said.

She added: "We rushed from our house to rescue them but the fire was too much since the heartless person(s) had poured petrol around the door and windows."

Ms Nakakande said she tried to shout Namusisi's name and only heard her once when she replied that she was rescuing her kids and didn't hear her again.

Mukono District speaker Mr Emmanuel Mbonye who is a resident in the area said this is the second time heartless people are burning Namusisi's children.

"The first incident happened in 2013 when some of her kids were burnt in a shrine in the same area and now they have decided to burn her and the remaining kids, it's so sad," Mbonye said.

Mukono District Police Commander Rogers Seguya confirmed the incident, saying investigations are ongoing.

The bodies were taken Kawolo Hospital for post-mortem.