Tanzanian children drown in Lake Victoria boat accident

Eighteen Tanzanian school children drowned yesterday when their boat capsized on Lake Victoria, the third such disaster in the region in a month, a top local official said.

The apparently overloaded vessel carrying children to school was believed to have flipped over in strong winds and villagers were helping to search for survivors, Sengerema District Commissioner David Palangyo said.

“We have a big tragedy here. Eighteen children out of 37 drowned,” Mr Palangyo said.

He said the boat carrying 37 pupils from primary and ­pre-school, aged approximately between five and 14, from Lukungu village to their school on Itendele island capsized in the morning.

Mr Palangyo said six of the bodies were recovered but 12 were still missing.

Nineteen children were rescued by police, fishermen and villagers, the district commissioner said.

He added that investigations into the cause of the accident were still ongoing but preliminary reports suggested the boat was overloaded and may have capsized because of strong winds.

The accident took place along the southern Tanzanian part of Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa and roughly the size of Ireland, where several fishing communities live on islands.

On Sunday, a boat overloaded with passengers and fish capsized on the Ugandan side of Lake Albert, killing at least 33 people.

A similar incident occured on July 20 when a boat carrying ­passengers and food products capsized on the Ugandan side of Lake Victoria while attempting to reach a mainland port in Entebbe.

Police and local officials offered differing death tolls regarding that incident, with local leaders insisting 28 had died, while police put the number at 15.