At least 31 people have lost their lives and more than 50 are still unaccounted for, after a boat capsized in Lake Victoria in Uganda, Saturday, according to data provided by the Uganda Police Force. The police said that the key cause of the accident was over-loading and the vessel’s poor mechanical shape.
The boat was reportedly carrying about 100 people, when it sank on Saturday off Mukono district, near Uganda’s capital, Kampala. An estimated 26 people have been rescued by local forces, but, as more than 50 people are still missing, death toll is expected to increase, international media report.
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni said on Sunday that the boat was carrying more than twice its capacity, adding that “according to preliminary information from the security services” the boat was “private, unregistered, unlicensed and maybe uninsured.”
It seems the boat was overloaded because whereas it had capacity for 50 people only, it had about 120 passengers on board, who also seemed to be partying with a lot of music. They might not have heard the emergency commands of the captain, who is still unaccounted for. There was a party going on aboard the boat, with loud music, at the time of the accident. They might not have heard the emergency commands of the captain, who is still unaccounted for,
…Mr. Museveni informed via social media.
Ugandan police spokesman Patrick Onyango also noted that there was bad weather at the time of the accident.
Lake Victoria,surrounded by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, is an increasingly popular tourist destination for local populations, and an area with several boat accidents reported. More than 200 people were killed after a Tanzanian ferry capsized in Lake Victoria in September, with officials noting it had been dangerously overcrowded.
Obviously, the operators of this boat will be charged with criminal negligence and manslaughter, if they have not already been punished for their mistake by dying in the accident. May the souls of all those departed in this tragedy rest in peace,
…added Mr. Museveni.
Among those rescued on Saturday was Prince Daudi Kintu Wasajja, a brother of Ronald Mutebi, the king of Buganda kingdom, Uganda’s largest, Reuters reported.
The recovered bodies have been taken to city mortuary in Mulago where they will be picked. How ever the search is still on for other bodies.
