Four teenagers drown in Lake Victoria

Aug 25, 2011

A CHEERFUL mood among several youth at a local resort suddenly turned into grief moment when four of the revellers drowned in Lake Victoria on Tuesday.

By Herbert Ssempogo

A CHEERFUL mood among several youth at a local resort suddenly turned into grief moment when four of the revellers drowned in Lake Victoria on Tuesday.

The afternoon misfortune occurred near the lake shores at Bwelenga, Katabi sub-county in Wakiso district.
A key staff at the resort who preferred anonymity regretted the incident. He said he had warned the teenagers about the sport. Apparently it is not conducive to swimming and visitors are often advised to swim in a nearby point that is shallow.

The police identified the dead as: Emma Sonko, 17, Emma Mukalazi, 14, Alex Lubega, 17 and Albright Niwo, 16.

Yonah Walugembe, a casual employee at the place told New Vision that after the manager’s warning, the boys and girls retreated only to go return later.

In just minutes, the water had swallowed Sonko, Mukakalazi and Lubega. Niwo, who wailed as she swallowed gallons of water, was rescued but she died on arrival at Kisubi Hospital, police said. Niwo is a step daughter of gospel musician, Judith Babirye.

Before she slipped into dead’s world, Niwo told her panicky friends pals that the boys had drowned. The search for the bodies ended at midday yesterday when Lubega’s body was recovered.

The ill-fated boys and girls were members of Light the World Church reportedly owned by Pastor Wilson Bugembe famous for Gospel music. The church is located in Nansana, Wakiso.

On Monday, they had converged for an annual church calendar retreat just meters from the death scene. The search for fun at the lakeshore was only a break.

Police at the nearby Kisubi station briefly questioned Mariam Nakiboneka, an administrator at the church and another person only identified as Henry. It was the duo who reported the incident.

The bodies were driven to Mulago Hospital in Kampala for post mortem. After, they will be handed over to the next-of-kin for burial.

The head of the church, Wilson Bugembe could not be reached for a comment.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});