Lake Bunyonyi drowning tragedy: Search on for victims

ACCIDENT

SOUTH-WESTERN UGANDA - Following the recent drowning of five people on Lake Bunyonyi in Rubanda district Tuesday this week, a team from the Marine Police have arrived in the area to search for the victims.

Kigezi Regional Police spokesperson Elly Maate said the offices arrived in the district Thursday morning and have kicked off operations to recover the bodies.

"Let us wait and see whether they (Marine Police) will get the bodies so that we hand them over to the bereaved families for decent burial," he told New Vision.

"Apart from the body of the baby that buoyed onto the surface hours after the drowning tragedy, no any other body has been found."

Victims named The victims include two babies and three adults. Maate named them as Agnes Turyasingura (29) with her nine-month-old baby Jacob Niwahereza, Patience Akampurira (21) with her eight-month-old baby Shivan Ainembabazi and Macklin Tumuheki (20).

All the five victims were residents of Hamukaaka village, Muko sub-county in Rubanda district.

Lake Bunyonyi is one of the deepest lakes in Africa.

"They were using a local boat to cross to Karambo village, where they always cultivate, but when they reached in the middle of the lake amidst much wind, the water waves made the boat capsize and all the five drowned," Maate told New Vision.

Herbert Byaruhanga, the Muko sub-county LC3 chairperson, said the canoe that they were travelling in capsized after it was hit by water waves.

He said the vessel was split during the tragedy.

Rubanda LC5 chairperson Kenneth Jogo Biryabarema said drowning on Lake Bunyonyi has become common.

He urged government to provide modern means of transport on the lake as one of the solutions to the problem.