Uganda's Museveni says capsized cruise boat was overloaded, 29 dead

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

Authorities comb Lake Victoria in Uganda after a boat capsized on 25 November 2018. Picture: AFP

Reuters | 235 days ago

KAMPALA – Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni said on Sunday that a cruise boat which capsized on Lake Victoria a day earlier, killing at least 29 people, was carrying more than twice its capacity of 50.

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

On Sunday, a police helicopter flew over the spot where the boat went down on Saturday evening in the waters off Mukono district near Kampala, as a large crowd of onlookers, some wailing, stood on the shore where bodies were piling up.

“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,” Museveni wrote on Twitter.

There was a party going on aboard the boat, with loud music, at the time of the accident, Museveni said.

“They might not have heard the emergency commands of the captain, who is still unaccounted for,” he said.

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

The boat was owned by somebody called Templa Bissase or Bissaso and his wife, both of whom, apparently, perished in the accident. They were coming from a private beach and headed to another private beach in Mukono area.
— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) November 25, 2018

It seems the boat was overloaded because whereas it had capacity for 50 people only, it had about 120 passengers on board, who also seemed to be partying with a lot of music. They might not have heard the emergency commands of the captain, who is still unaccounted for.
— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) November 25, 2018

When the Police and the UPDF got information from the fishermen, they rushed in and rescued 26 people. By today morning, 29 dead bodies had been recovered. The search effort is still ongoing.
— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) November 25, 2018

Patrick Onyango, the deputy spokesman for the police, said the vessel had encountered rough conditions at the time of the accident.

“The boat was overloaded and secondly there was bad weather,” Onyango told Reuters.

“Our rescue team is still on the ground trying to rescue whoever we can find,” he said.

Among those rescued on Saturday was Prince Daudi Kintu Wasajja, a brother of Ronald Mutebi, the king of Buganda kingdom, Uganda’s largest, police said.

The East African nation has several kingdoms, whose kings wield considerable social clout but little political influence.

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