Five people have drowned after a canoe they were travelling in capsized on Lake Bunyonyi in southwestern Uganda.
The victims were reportedly sailing from Ndekura landing site in Muko sub-county to Karambo in Ikamiro parish.
The deceased include Ayebazibwe Glorious aged 20, Kyogabirwe Pretty aged 9, Ninsiima Rona 8 years old, a six-year-old girl identified as Shanitah.
The police reported the incident late on Wednesday. The deceased were all family members including an infant who was less than one year old.
According to the police statement, the drowning was a result of strong wind on the lake and excessive loading.
‘‘The canoe loads three people only. Its capacity was not respected when six people were on board," the statement said.
The sixth person who survived was the sailor only identified as Niwampa after successfully swimming to the shore.
Muko police station Spokesperson, Elly Maate visited the scene and reported that the bodies were still underwater pending retrieval.
Earlier this month, two people died and two others survived when the boat they were using to cross Lake Bunyonyi capsized.
In June the same incident occurred. Late in the evening at around 5:40 pm, two students drowned in the lake and died instantly.
The victims were identified as Ninsima Moreen aged 15, a student of Creamland high school Kabale, and Kakuru Edivance aged 15 who was a pupil of Kyenyi primary school.
On the Cruise, one Ndyomugabe Robert male aged 18, and a student of Creamland High School and Akampurira Milvil aged 12 of Karambo Primary School survived after managing to swim to the banks.
The rising death toll on Lake Bunyonyi, Uganda’s deepest lake is attributed to a shortage of life jackets.
Lake Bunyonyi is about 900 m (3,000 feet) deep, which makes it the second-deepest lake in Africa, the fifth in the world.
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