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Travelers stranded as UNRA halts Kayunga-Kamuli ferry services
The truck being loaded off the Mbulamuti ferry. COURTESY PHOTO
Several passengers are stranded at Izaniro Landing site in Kamuli District after Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) officials halted services on Mbulamuti ferry following an incident on Africa’s longest river, Nile.
The ferry, which connects Kayunga and Kamuli Districts almost capsized at 7pm on Tuesday as a result of heavyweight sand trucks.
According to eyewitnesses, the ferry was carrying two heavy sand trucks and about 50 passengers from Kayunga District to Kamuli side.
There was pandemonium on River Nile as frantic passengers- women and children struggled to get off the dipping ferry.
The Busoga North Police Spokesperson, Mr Michael Kasadha, on Wednesday said, the incident happened after the ferry had reached the Kamuli side.
"They were offloading the ferry, but the last vehicle which I think was overloaded caused the problem. The ferry nearly capsized but fortunately nobody was injured and all passengers were safely evacuated," Mr Kasadha said, adding that investigations are ongoing to establish the cause of the incident.
When Daily Monitor visited Izaniro landing site, Unra officials were still working with local fishermen and police authorities to offload the sand from the trucks.
UNRA officials refused to comment on overloading which eyewitnesses suspect is the cause of the problem. Security officials and UNRA staff refused journalists from taking photos, saying: "This is a small matter and there is no cause for alarm".
A survivor identified as Swaibu Kasaika told Daily Monitor that they were disembarking from the ferry when the accident occurred. He said they panicked but were told to remain calm.
Unra spokesman, Mark Ssali, in a telephone interview, said, the truck got stuck on the last trip between 6pm and 7pm last night and announced that the ferry would remain grounded for about five days.
"All people and other luggage had already disembarked and it was too late to mobilise the cranes needed to remove it, and so we kept it overnight,” Mr Ssali said.
"The process of removing the truck is on-going, sand is being offloaded from the truck to reduce the weight then the cranes can remove it. Once it has been done successfully, we will assess the damage done to the ferry and repair work will start immediately."
UNRA officials have called for calm advised stranded passengers and other ferry users use the Jinja Highway as they handle the matter.
