The prestigious multi-million science laboratory at Busitema University, Nagongera campus in Tororo District is no more after it was gutted by fire.
The fire, which broke out on Sunday afternoon, burnt 70 computers and other equipment to ashes.
The university senior advancement officer, Eriya Ntaga, said the fire could have broken out due to mal-functioning of the equipment in the server room.
Mr Ntaga said the burnt computers had been procured under the Higher Education Science and Technology [HEST], project seeking to retool universities to boost science and computer teaching.
“The inferno could have been detected quickly but because it was a weekend, most members of staff and students were out of the institution. By the time fire gutted, nobody was around and those who were within the institution only came to know of it when it was late,” he said.