Eight drown in Lake Kyoga

LAKE KYOGA  ACCIDENT  BOAT

Eight people, including a mother and her three children and three fishermen have been confirmed dead in two separate boat accidents on Lake Kyoga.

According to the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) of Amolatar Lillian Eyal, the first incident occurred on Monday evening when a family of eight relocating from Awelo sub-county in Amolatar district to Apac drowned when the boat they were traveling on capsized.

A mother, her three children and a daughter in law perished in the accident and their bodies have been retrieved. The RDC said the husband and two children survived.

Meanwhile, another accident happened on Tuesday when a boat carrying four fishermen capsized, killing three of them.

The RDC said the fishermen were taking bags of sand to a sudd in the lake to keep it stationery when the boat capsized due to strong wind and heavy load.  She said the fishermen believe that when a sudd is stationery, they can catch more fish.

The bodies of the fishermen retrieved from the lake have been identified as Thomas Omara, 34, Innocent Obore 17 and Ceasar David Opito, 27, all residents of Kipangai A village, Kikondo parish, Namasale sub-county.

The Regional Police commander, Peter Nkulega, said he had not yet got details from the District Police Commander of Amolatar. "The DPC sent me some information, including pictures of the bodies, I need to get more details from him, call me after an hour," Nkulega said on phone Wednesday afternoon.