20 confirmed dead in Lake Victoria boat accident

Twenty(20) people have been confirmed dead after a boat they were traveling in capsized in Lake Victoria on Wednesday morning.

The boat is said to have been traveling from Lwanabatya landing site in  Kalangala district  heading to Kasenyi landing site in Entebbe when it failed to negotiate heavy winds on the  lake in the night and capsized .

Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson, Patrick Onyango said the boat was carrying 34 people when it capsized.

“The incident happened at 5am. So far 20, people have been confirmed dead, and nine  rescued. The boat was carrying bags of charcoal, fresh foods, silver fish among others. The cause of accident is attributed to overloading and bad weather,”Onyango said.

He noted that rescue efforts are still underway with teams from Police Marines, UPDF Fisheries Protection Unit and local community on the waters  are trying to locate the missing people.

“We appeal to members of the public who travel on waters to always wear life jackets and not to over load their vessels .We will keep you updated.”

This website has separately learnt that there were 10 survivors including nine men and one woman.

Survivors’ tales

According to some of the survivors, the boat was overloaded and the matter was exacerbated  by the bad weather on the lake.

“Before we boarded, I saw weather changing, I decided to make sure I put on my life jacket before the boat capsized. I personally saved two people whose hands I held firmly as the boat capsized,”said Joseph Lule.

He said it took more than two hours for any rescue until a fishing boat that was passing by noticed and came to their help.

“When I was fighting to jump off the boat which had capsized, others saw me and also battled to save their lives as well . At that moment, a small boat came rescued few of us.”

Kiiza Lawrence also confirmed the boat was over crowded with  both business people and passengers as well as their goods.

“We saw the boat capsizing and prayed only God to rescue us.”

Local officials say heavy taxes and prices for  life jackets have made it difficult for people t ohave life jackets while traveling on water.

However, the vice chairperson of the Federation of the Fisheries Association in Uganda, Wasajja Mulangira said many passengers refuse to put on life jackets while on water.

Additional reporting by Lawrence Mushabe.