At least thirty killed as boat capsized in Uganda

At least 30 people were killed after a cruise boat capsized due to bad weather in Lake Victoria in Uganda on Saturday evening, police said on Sunday.

“27 people have so far been rescued. Marine teams are doing whatever they can to find more bodies,” Patrick Onyango, deputy spokesman for the police, told Anadolu Agency via telephone.

He could not give the exact number of passengers who were aboard the boat saying they are still waiting for the passenger list.

“Survivors are telling us there were between 70 to 80 passengers on board,” he said.

The embattled vessel was transporting passengers on a pleasure cruise on Lake Victoria for the weekend.

According to the police, this is the first major accident that happen on the Ugandan side of Lake Victoria in a period of two years.

The lake is shared among three east African nations including Kenya and Tanzania.

More than 200 people died in September when a Tanzania ferry sank in Lake Victoria, which is the world’s second biggest lake and the largest in Africa.