Prime
50 feared dead on L. Victoria
Residents of Kasenyi Landing Site wait to receive the survivors of the accident. PHOTO BY MARTIN SSEBUYIRA
Wakiso
At least 56 people, majority being business people, could have drowned in a boat accident on Lake Victoria, police said yesterday. The boat that was sailing from Jjaana Islands in Kalangala District to Kasenyi Landing Site in Wakiso District had 60 occupants and merchandise, police said.
By press time, the Marine Police, Uganda Peoples Defence Forces and Red Cross had rescued only four people as the search for others continued. Mr David Mugole, Samalie Teru, Mr Gideon Kazungi and one Akello managed to survive after they held onto the broken pieces of wood and sacks of silver fish. Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman Ibin Ssenkumbi said the search would continue. But Beach Management Unit (BMU) officials put the number of boat occupants at 37. Both police and BMU don’t have any records to prove their assertions. Police suspect the cause of the accident to be overloading.
At Kasenyi, as the relatives of the survivors praised God for saving their loved ones, families of the missing people were in grief. Jjaana Island Local Council I Chairman Nelson Musisi said the boat was overloaded with timber and silver fish yet there were strong winds on the lake. “Survivors told them strong waves hit the boat’s hind ripping it apart,” Mr Musisi said.
Mr Ssalongo Katura, the BMU chairman at Kasenyi Landing Site, said the bodies may come to the surface after three days. By midday, Red Cross staff and police were still looking for boats to reach the scene in order to rescue survivors.
Lake Victoria is the biggest fresh water body in Africa and it links three East African countries but it doesn’t have enough security personnel, efficient transport means and emergency response system.
The period between April and September is tough for fishermen on the lake due to the strong winds and turbulent waves. In 2006, 40 people drowned in Mayuge District after their boat capsized and in 2007, a boat capsized on Lake Victoria killing 30 of its occupants.
