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22 dead, scores feared drowned after Uganda boat sinks
MUTIMA, Uganda, Nov 25, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Twenty-two people have died and
more than 60 are feared drowned after a pleasure boat sank on Lake Victoria,
Ugandan police said Sunday.
The vessel carrying close to a hundred revellers sank during bad weather on
Saturday in the latest deadly incident to affect passenger boats on Africa’s
largest lake.
“Twenty-two bodies have been recovered and 26 people rescued,” said Asuman
Mugenyi, director of operations for the Uganda police. “According to one of
the survivors there were more than 90 people on board.”
The boat, on which party-goers were drinking, dancing and listening to
music, sank a short distance from the shore off Mutima in Mukono District,
close to the capital Kampala.
Mugenyi said overloading and bad weather were likely to blame.
“We expect (the number of passengers) is beyond the capacity of the boat.
It was overloaded and unfortunately people were drunk,” Mugenyi said. “We
suspect the mechanical condition of the boat and the weather contributed to
the sinking.”
“A big storm hit,” said local government official Richard Kikongo. “It can
be fine on land but bad weather on the lake.”
Kikongo said first responders were among the victims. “Fishermen on two
small boats could see that the boat was sinking and went to help. People
tried to jump onto the boats but they were too many and those sunk. The
rescuers died too,” he said.
Nearby residents said the vessel was hired out for parties every weekend
and often overloaded with revellers.
The Mutima Country Haven resort had been converted to a triage centre and
morgue on Sunday morning where police were collecting the swollen bodies of
victims
Police spokesman Emilian Kayima said rescue efforts were continuing.
Lake Victoria is the site of many boat disasters. In September, hundreds
died when the MV Nyerere passenger ferry sank on the Tanzanian side of Lake
Victoria.
With a surface area of 70,000 square kilometres (27,000 square miles),
oval-shaped Lake Victoria is roughly the size of Ireland and is shared by
Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.
It is not uncommon for ferries to capsize on the lake and the number of
fatalities is often high due to a shortage of life jackets and the fact that
many local people cannot swim.
In 1966, more than 800 people lost their lives on Lake Victoria when the MV
Bukoba sank off the mainland town of Mwanza, according to the Red Cross.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1340 hrs