Uganda police continue recovery of bodies after boat accident

Rescuers on Sunday recovered bodies from Uganda’s Lake Victoria after a cruise boat capsized on it in poor weather on Saturday.

President Yoweri Museveni said Sunday that the boat was overloaded, carrying 120 people instead of 50.

Uganda’s Director of Police Operations, Asuman Mugenyi said 28 bodies were recovered on Sunday, adding ‘we cannot now tell when this operation will end, it will be determined by number of recoveries we have made’.

“So far we have 28 bodies, out of these 15 are women and 13 are men. Of course some have been identified, others are yet to be identified and the operation is ongoing as far as you can see. We have brought all the marine components of UPDF (Uganda People’s Defence Force) and police and other rescue services. We cannot now tell when this operation will end, it will be determined by number of recoveries we have made”, Mugenyi said.

The police expressed concern about the habit of people failing to wear safety jackets on water.

According to the police, among those rescued was Prince Daudi Kintu Wasajja, a brother of Ronald Mutebi, the king of the influential Buganda kingdom.

More than 200 people died in September when an overloaded ferry sank on the Tanzanian side of the lake.

Reuters