33 people known to be party revellers were killed in Uganda when their boat capsized on Lake Victoria over the weekend.
Officials in Uganda say the boat with a capacity of 50 carried over 100 people. That could have caused the disaster according to officials.
Local media reports that there was party taking place on the boat before the accident. The disaster happened in Mukono district near Kampala.
A police spokesman Patrick Onyango told Reuters that the vessel encountered rough conditions just before the accident.
He is quoted as saying that “The boat was overloaded and secondly there was bad weather. Our rescue team is still on the ground trying to rescue whoever we can find.”
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni said on Twitter that “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.”
On behalf of all Ugandans, I send condolences to the families of the people who died in the accident on Lake Victoria last evening. According to preliminary information from the security services, this, apparently, was a private, unregistered, unlicensed and maybe uninsured boat.
— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) November 25, 2018
Museveni said police were able to rescue “26 people. By today (Sunday) morning, 29 dead bodies had been recovered. The search effort is still ongoing.” That death toll has since increased to 33, according to police sources.
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.
— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) November 25, 2018
Over 200 people died on Lake Victoria this year from the Tanzania side of the lake when a ferry traveling on it sunk.
Source: Africafeeds.com
