Thirty people drowned and more than 60 were feared dead after a pleasure boat sank in Lake Victoria, Ugandan police said Sunday, in the latest such incident on Africa’s largest body of water.
“Thirty bodies have been recovered and 27 people rescued,” said police spokesperson Zura Ganyana, adding the boat had sunk 150 metres from the lakeshore.
“According to one of the survivors there were more than 90 people on board,” said Asuman Mugenyi, director of operations for the Uganda police.
Witnesses claimed the vessel may have been rushed back into service following a renovation in order to take advantage of the profitable end-of-year party season. The boat carrying nearly 100 revellers sank in bad weather on Saturday in the latest deadly incident to affect passenger boats on Africa’s largest lake.
Lawn games at the Mutima Country Resort, close to the capital Kampala, were pushed aside Sunday to make way for an open-air morgue where police collected the bloated bodies of victims. Boat rides, with drinking, dancing and music, are popular on the lake.
“It’s a big party,” said Washington Serunjogi, whose sister Justine Namayanja was missing after taking the cruise on Saturday.
“Justine had been on three cruises before and I knew something was wrong yesterday because she always updated her WhatsApp and Facebook with selfies but last night she didn’t,” Serunjogi said. Serunjogi said that, like many Ugandans, his sister did not know how to swim.