Police recover body of teacher who drowned in Lake Bunyonyi
Local leaders and security officials from Kabale and Rubanda districts prepare to address residents around Lake Bunyonyi where the body of a primary teacher was recovered on February 27, 2023. PHOTO/COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Police have identified the deceased as 27-year-old teacher whose ancestral home is in Kwania District.
Marine police and local divers Monday afternoon retrieved the body of a primary school teacher who drowned in Lake Bunyonyi as he tried to swim on February 26.
Police have identified the deceased as 27-year-old Christopher Ochet, a teacher at Genesis nursery and primary school in Kabale District where he had served for the last two years.
“On Sunday morning, the deceased teacher signed out of the school with some pupils for morning jogging up to Lake Bunyonyi. On arrival at the lake, Ochet opted to swim but failed to make it as he drowned on his way back to the dock,” Kigezi region police spokesperson Mr Elly Maate told Monitor on Monday.
“The marine police at Lake Bunyonyi were informed and they immediately started the hunt together with local divers but could not find the body until Monday afternoon,” Mr Maate explained.
According to police, the deceased’s remains were immediately taken to Kabale Regional Referral Hospital for postmortem.
Mr Maate revealed that a case of drowning was registered at Lake Bunyonyi Marine detach while Ochet’s body will be handed over to his family for burial in their ancestral village in Kwania District.
On Monday, a security team from Kabale and Rubanda District led by the Kabale Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Godfrey Nyakahuma, the Rubanda RDC Lillian Ruteraho and the Kigezi regional police commander SSP Ibrahim Saiga visited the scene where they addressed local residents and warned them against crossing Lake Bunyonyi without life jackets and other protective gear.
The security team together with the marine police experts also tipped the locals on how to prevent deadly water incidents.
Lake Bunyonyi is the second deepest lake in Africa- only after Lake Tanganyika in neighbouring Tanzania. Lake Bunyonyi has about 29 islands and the major means of transport are dugout canoes and some engine boats.
