Boat capsizes in Uganda, at least 35 dead

The boat was carrying more than 90 passengers on a trip around the lake when it overturned close to shore near the capital Kampala around 19h00 on Saturday.

Police said the boat was “in poor mechanical shape” and was overloaded with passengers on a lake cruise when it capsized.

Ugandan police spokesman Patrick Onyango said there was bad weather at the time of the accident. He added that the number of bodies retrieved from the water stood at 35, while 27 people have been rescued alive. The death toll was expected to rise.

Boat accidents are increasingly common on East Africa’s major lakes, including Victoria lake.

This is the second deadly accident on Victoria lake in as many months. In September, more than 200 people died when an overloaded ferry sank on the Tanzanian side of the lake.

Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the third largest, by area, in the world after Superior lake and the Caspian Sea./.