A Congolese refugee from Kyangwali refugee settlement area in Kikuube district has drowned in Lake Albert.
According to reports, the trio drowned on Tuesday evening while on a fishing expedition with two others at Nsonga landing site in Buhuka parish, Kyanagwali sub-county.
Unfortunately, their fishing boat was struck by strong winds, causing it to capsize. While his colleagues managed to swim to safety and discreetly return to Kyangwali refugee settlement area following the incident, the deceased, who was a considerable distance away from other fishermen, was unable to be rescued despite sounding an alarm.
Reginal Okumu Ngamita, the Buhuka parish LC II Chairperson, revealed that fellow fishermen promptly organized a search and successfully recovered the deceased’s body from the lake at 6 pm on Wednesday evening. Officials from the Kyangwali refugee settlement area were promptly notified and swiftly transported the body back to the settlement.
Ngamita noted that it has become a recurring pattern for refugees to venture into Lake Albert for fishing purposes.
Christopher Isingoma, a resident of Nsonga landing site, urged the management of the settlement area to enforce stricter guidelines to limit unnecessary movements of refugees from there.
Attempts to reach Topheus Chali, the Kyangwali refugee settlement commandant, for comment were unsuccessful by the time of filing.
This unfortunate incident follows the recent death of two fishermen, Dhogu (40) and Muchiga (35), in Lake Albert when their fishing boat was hit by strong winds.
Despite their distress calls, fellow fishermen were unable to reach them in time to prevent their tragic demise.
In previous incidents, two fishermen, AJaruva (35) and Richard (24), lost their lives in July 2021 after their boat capsized in Lake Albert due to strong winds.
Similarly, in June 2021, two fishermen were killed when their boat was struck by a hippopotamus in the same waters.
The bodies of the deceased fishermen were recovered by their fellow fishermen and subsequently handed over to their grieving families for proper burial.