Equity bank head office, located at Church House on Kampala road has been temporarily closed for business due to a fire that broke out at City House building on Luwum Street in Kampala on Monday morning, December 11, 2023.

According to a statement from the Management of Equity Bank, the closure was out of precaution since the building that caught fire was adjacent to the bank.

“We have temporarily closed these premises while the Uganda Police and Fire Brigade work to contain the fire outbreak,” Equity Bank Management stated.

“At the moment, there is no damage to the Bank and no harm to our staff who have been safely evacuated,” the Management added.

The management of the bank requested customers to use other branches in Kampala, Equi-Duuka agents and their digital banking channels which they said were operating normally.

“We hope that the situation will be under control soon for normal service to resume at Church House and we will continue to update you as the situation unfolds,” the management noted.

Preliminary information indicates that, the fire which gutted the building in the morning started at around 8am and has caused extensive damage. It also trapped some people on the storied building as they had just opened for business, but were rescued by Uganda Police fire brigade which rushed to the scene. However, so far one person has been confirmed dead.

The police cordoned off Luwum Street due to a fire breakout at City House, located downtown. The cause of the fire is currently unknown.

City House which is one of the oldest buildings in Kampala City center hosts offices of Democratic Party and other several businesses, such as Bata shop.

This is the second fire that has broken out in the city center in a scale of two days. On Saturday, December 9, 2023, fire gutted a building at Nasser Road in Kampala that left people’s property and businesses damaged.