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Three die in boat accident on Lake Victoria
What you need to know:
- At least 24 passengers were on board. The incident occurred at around 10:30pm as the group was returning from Lubya Island where they had gone to attend a hands-on training workshop.
Rescuers are still searching for bodies of three female passengers who went missing following a boat accident on Lake Victoria on Sunday night.
The ill-fated boat, according to Police, was transporting people from Lubya Island in Buvuma District to various islands within the same district.
At least 24 passengers were on board. The incident occurred at around 10:30pm as the group was returning from Lubya Island where they had gone to attend a hands-on training workshop.
By Monday afternoon rescuers had not recovered any of the three missing bodies. Those missing, according to police include; Annah Nabwire, 23, Ashifah Namulondo, 19, Harriet Tulina, 17, –all residents of Namiti in Lubya Town Council, Buvuma District.
According to Mr Fred Onduri, the chairperson of Lubya Sub County, the workshop had been organised by Uganda Development Health Associates (UDHA) and it drew participants from various islands including Kirewe, Lubya and Namiti.
“After dropping participants from Kirewe, the boat continued with the three female participants from Namiti and the boat suffered a strong wave and drowned, only the boat skipper managed to swim and survived,” he said
Mr Onduri blamed the tragedy on the boat skipper who did not provide lifejackets to the occupants.
“Our marine personnel and local fishermen are still looking for the three bodies and we are optimistic that we will get them,” Ms Hellen Butoto, the Ssezibwa regional police spokesperson, said yesterday.
She said they were still carrying out investigations to establish what exactly led the boat to capsize.
“Our preliminary investigations reveal that passengers on board never had any lifesaving gadgets like lifejackets .We have emphasized this several times, but many boat owners have refused to take heed,” she said, adding that five people have been arrested to aid their investigations.
