Lake Victoria Accident: At Least 30 Feared Dead After Boat Capsizes Near Remba Island, Kenya

Update as of 4 a.m. EDT: A boat that capsized in Lake Victoria was carrying 24 passengers and not 200, Capital FM Kenya, a local news network, reported citing an official. Two children died in the accident, according to reports.

“The bodies of the two children aged four and two years have been retrieved. The passenger boat was carrying 24 people while the fishing boat had four fishermen on board. Most of the passengers had life jackets and that is what helped in rescuing them,” John Omusanga, Homa Bay County commander, told the news station.

The boat was on its way to Sori in Migori County from Remba Island in Homa Bay County. An adult believed to be missing after the accident was found later.

Update as of 11:10 p.m. EDT: The Kenya Red Cross Society tweeted saying that it has sent a rescue team to Lake Victoria where a boat carrying 200 passengers capsized early Wednesday.

Original story:

At least 30 people are feared dead after a boat carrying 200 passengers capsized in Lake Victoria near Remba Island, Kenya, according to Citizen TV Kenya, a local television network. The accident reportedly occurred early Wednesday.

Three bodies, of which two are children, have been recovered so far, local media reported. However, local fishermen at Nyandiwa Beach said that nine people were killed, Daily Nation newspaper reported. The cause of the accident is not clear, however, some local media reports said two boats collided resulting in the accident.

Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest lake and its waters spread across Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. About 5,000 fishermen die each year due to storms on Lake Victoria, according to a report last month in New Vision, a Ugandan daily, citing a survey by Makerere University School of Public Health in Kampala, Uganda.