The search for a passenger boat that is feared to have capsized on Lake Victoria on Sunday evening has entered the third day today. The missing boat left Kiyindi landing site in Buikwe district around 6 pm for Namatale in Bwema Sub County in Buvuma District with five people on board including the coxswain only identified as Kanyankore, his two assistants and two men who missed the ferry.
The two travellers seemed to be evangelists as they were carrying bibles and a piano. The boat is believed to have capsized between Mpunga and Nyende near Kirongo landing site. Patrick Ssemwogerere, who saw the boat setting off from Kiyindi landing site, says that it was also carrying stone aggregates for making concrete.
Ssemwogerere notes that Kanyankore’s plan was to drop the two preachers at Kirongo landing site in Buvuma and proceed with the stones to Namatale where Buvuma district is constructing a water project. He, however, says to date the boat has not made it to its intended destination and they haven’t been able to make contact with the operators.
Amir Kiggundu, one of the residents involved in searching for the boat, says that residents of Mpunga heard people crying for help but thought they were fishermen being tortured by soldiers from the Fisheries Protection Unit.
Godfrey Luiga, the Ssezibwa Marine Police Commander, says that upon receiving the report of the missing boat they immediately embarked on a search but they have not got any clues on its whereabouts.
He, however, says that they are not about to give up until they establish what happened to the boat. Yobu Sserwanga, a resident at Kiyindi, says that the boat often carries passengers and luggage, which are easy to offload in times of danger.
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