30 feared dead as boat goes missing on Lake Victoria

Tanzanian police said yesterday a boat had disappeared in waters on Lake Victoria, and one official said about 30 people could have been killed if it had sunk.

Ignatius Mbinga, police commander for Kagera region, said an engine-powered boat vanished last Friday. "The boat has not been seen up to now, we do not know where it is," he said, adding: "We are at the moment trying to locate it."

Tanzanian Surface and Marine Transport Maritime Authority (SUMATRA) Director-General Israel Sekirasa, said about 30 people could have died.

"According to the information we have, the death toll could be as high as 30," he said, adding that the boat was carrying maize, soda and beer.

Local media reported a ferry had sunk with up to 28 deaths.

Police officials in Mwanza town on the shores of Lake Victoria said the boat was called MV Nyamageni and operated under the company Dynamic Cotton Ginnery.

As on other African waterways, accidents are common on Lake Victoria, the continent's largest lake, because of overcrowding, and poor safety and communication equipment.

Prior to the latest incident, nearly 100 people had lost their lives so far this year on Lake Victoria, according to local media. The lake borders Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.

In Lake Victoria's worst shipping disaster, more than 800 people drowned in May 1996 when a ferry from the Tanzanian port of Bukoba capsized on its way to Mwanza.