A TOTAL of 27 people are feared drowned in Lake Victoria after a cargo boat they were travelling in from Bukoba to Mwanza last Friday was hit by a storm and capsized near Kerebe Island.
Acting Kagera Regional Police Commander, Mr David Ole-Saibullu, confirmed the accident yesterday.
He told reporters that the ill-fated ship, mv Kangemi, left Bukoba port last Friday night at around 9 p.m. and was scheduled to arrive in Mwanza last Saturday morning.
He said the 20-tonne ship, owned by a Mwanza businessman, Mr Jumanne Nkandi Kishimba, was carrying 12 tonnes of maize, 6,000 empty bottles of Coca Cola and 2,000 full bottles of Pepsi Cola soft drinks.
Mr Saibullu confirmed the ship had 27 people on board, including four crew members, three sailors and twenty labourers.
He said the crew was identified by single names as Haule, the ship captain, and his two assistants, Iddi and Anitha Mushi and Emma, a ship engineer. He named the three sailors by single name as Jamal, Mnubi and Peter.
The Acting RPC said the ship is feared to have sunk near Kerebe Islands.
He said several people had reported to have spotted empty crates of soda floating on the waters. Until yesterday, no survivor had been reported, he said.
He said police divers and a special rescue team had been dispatched to the scene of accident.
A source who asked not to be mentioned, said the ship, formerly known as mv Muleba, lacked essential equipment including a radar, radio call and a compass and was only equipped with a "GPS".
According to sources, the captain for mv Victoria reportedly saw the distressed ship as it struggled with winds near Kerebe Island.
Mr Kishimba bought the ship from Muleba District Council a few years back and the ship had been operating between Mwanza Port to Kemondo Bay and Bukoba.
Muleba District Commissioner John Tuppa told the Prime Minister, Mr Edward Lowassa, during his recent visit to Kagera Region that 62 people had died in three months this year due to boat accidents in Lake Victoria.