Uganda boat carrying soccer team capsized in Lake Albert, dozens feared dead

A boat carrying football players and fans has been reported capsized in Lake Albert in Western Uganda. At least eight members of a Ugandan football team and their fans died while over 15 are missing, according to the police.

According to Fred Enanga, the Ugandan police spokesman, the fishermen and a marine unit have rescued more than 30 people from the scene of Sunday's accident. The boat was travelling between two fishing villages in the west of the country when it overturned, with police attributing the accident to overloading and bad weather. It was carrying more than 50 football players and fans from the western Uganda district of Hoima.

The passengers were travelling to Runga landing site from Fofo where a friendly match between two local clubs was scheduled. The wooden boat overturned shortly after it departed the docks. "The boat capsized about 300 metres after taking off from the landing site," Sadic Nyangireki, the Nyakabingo parish youth chairman and a businessman said.

According to BBC, the boat was overloaded and then hit by strong winds. Survivors revealed that the majority of passengers were not wearing life jackets. "Those who have died in this tragedy are 30 and all from my area. The boat was loaded with our players and supporters. It had over 60 people but 32 of those survived," a local official in Fofo, Baker Ogen, told AFP.

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