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 The BBC's Martin Dawes reports from Uganda"There have been allegations of child abuse"  real 28k  John Nagenda, Ugandan government spokesman"A terrible tragedy of gullible human beings"  real 28k |
We're going to close down all the branches of this sect and are going to be more vigilant ... But we can't stop freedom of worship.
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Interior Minister Edward Rugamayo
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Members of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments died on Friday when they were doused in petrol before their church burned down. The windows and doors had been nailed shut.
Ugandan Interior Minister Edward Rugamayo, who visited the remains of the cult headquarters on Monday, said there could be more than 500 dead, as many other bodies "were burnt beyond recognition".
 A police officer surveys the burnt-out church
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It has also emerged that four police officers were among those burned to death.
"These are the very people we expect to warn us about these kind of dangers," said Mr Rugumayo.
President Yoweri Museveni has expressed his deep shock and urged religious and community leaders to guide people away from cults.
The authorities have announced that all branches of the cult would be closed down.
Crackdown
President Museveni said although his government believed in the freedom of worship, it also had a duty to protect people from "dangerous" religious leaders.
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Mr Museveni "criticised the leaders of some religious cults, which are increasingly luring unsuspecting people, taking advantage of their property and misleading them into beliefs that endanger their lives," Ugandan radio said.
Police said the adults who died would be treated as suicide victims, but those under 18 would be regarded as murder victims.
Most of the bodies were burned beyond recognition, reduced to husks piled one on top of another and fused together by the heat.
Identification will be almost impossible and it is unlikely an exact death toll will ever be reached.
Police said rescuers who arrived at the scene had been unable to reach the cult members, as the doors and windows were barred.
End of the world
Inspector General John Kisembo said all the evidence pointed to a mass suicide.
"We know that the leaders of the church must have planned it."
Witnesses said there were signs that the cult was getting ready for a big event in the days leading up to the fire.
 Religious icons were found around the movement's compound
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It was not known whether Mr Kibwetere and other leaders, including several excommunicated Catholic priests and nuns, died with their followers.
Mr Kibwetere's son is reported to have visited the scene to pick up ashes for a symbolic funeral. He is quoted as saying that he believes his father was among the dead.
Evidence of the cult's Roman Catholic roots lay scattered around the compound.
Three statues of Jesus stood in the abandoned offices, while a large crucifix had been laid carefully on green cloth draped across a chair.
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