5 Soldiers Searching For Lake Victoria Accident Victims Cheat Death After Their Boat Sinks

• Five marine officers on a perilous mission to locate the victims of a recent boat sinking in Lake Victoria escaped death after their own vessel capsized
• Their mission was to conduct a search and rescue operation for the 14 individuals who went missing during the tragic accident that occurred on August 2
• According to eyewitnesses, the ill-fated vessel had more than 30 passengers at the time of the incident, with only 10 fortunate enough to be rescued
• So far, the recovery teams have managed to retrieve six bodies from the lake

Five marine officers attempting to locate victims of a boat tragedy that occurred on Lake Victoria nearly became victims themselves.

This is after their boat capsized during the search and rescue operation meant to find 14 missing victims of the accident, which occurred on August 2.

Marine officers escaped death

According to Daily Monitor, Kampala Metropolitan deputy police spokesperson Luke Owoyesigire blamed the mishap on strong winds which toppled the rescue vessel.

The officers were, however, lucky to swim out alive and even went ahead and recovered one more body from the water, bringing the total number of bodies to six.

"We are relieved to report that all five marine officers who were onboard the capsized boat have been rescued alive," Owoyesigire said in a statement.

He added that the dedicated officers are continuing their endeavours to recover the remaining bodies after the accident occurred on Wednesday morning.

10 rescued, 6 bodies found, over 14 missing

Over 30 passengers were aboard the ill-fated vessel, out of which 10 were rescued, and six fatalities have been confirmed.

Fishermen from neighbouring shores said the ill-fated boat was transporting 34 passengers and cargo from Lwanabatya Landing Site.

Apart from passengers, the boat was also ferrying a large consignment that included several bags of charcoal, fresh foods and silverfish.

Marine officers are still hoping to locate the missing 14 victims from the lake which has often experienced boat disasters due to overcrowding and adverse weather conditions.

"We appeal to members of the public who travel on waters to always wear life jackets and not to over load their vessels," read part of the police statement.

Captain's distress call

Lawrence Kiiza, a survivor, said he knew they would capsize after the captain, who was struggling to control the boat, shouted that they were sinking.

Kizza explained that fellow travellers didn't have life- jackets on, and those who had them were of low quality and could not save them.

"I reached a point and realised that we were headed for disaster when the skipper shouted that the boat was sinking. I was already praying to God to save us, but unfortunately, it is only a few lucky ones who survived," he recounted.