TWO FISHERMEN DROWN ON LAKE GEORGE

Police in Kasese are investigating circumstances under which two fishermen living at the Kahendero landing site in Muhokya sub-county are being feared dead with a possibility of drowning in the waters of Lake George.

The Officer in Charge of Criminal Investigations Mr. Godwin Tumugumye confirmed that two fishermen are missing and there is belief that they had drowned in the water.

“Two bodies are under water of Lake George, I can confirm. There is nothing big police can do apart from investigating what might have been the cause. We are waiting to see the bodies retrieved by fellow fishermen so that we can order a postmortem test”. Mr. Tumugumye said.

Asked to identify the dead, the OC/CID said he was going to attend to another serious incident that has occurred in the district.

However, the Chairman LC II of Kahendero parish Mr. Dan Kantongole identified the victims as Makumbi Salongo, 50, and Habib Tinka, 35 all famous fishermen at Kahendero landing site.

Mr. Katongole said that Salongo was the first to drown in the water on Friday afternoon when he and a colleague identified as Kabuyo were trapping small fish to be used on the hooks about two kilometers from the landing site.

He said that a search was conducted in the water by the fishermen on Friday evening but in vain prompting another team to go back to the water on Saturday morning.

However, the Saturday morning search became tragic as one of the local divers called Habib Tinka never returned from the water where he had dived to find the body of Salongo. The search stopped discretely.

“Two of our fishermen are missing in the water and they have died we believe. On Friday only Kabuyo returned with the boat and said Salongo drowned. But when we reach the same place another person drowned. We do not know what is happening” Mr. Katongole said.

According to Mr. Katongole, the current incident comes with challenges and a lot of speculations because it has always been easy to retrieve bodies of other people who drown and killed by Hippopotami.

The death of the two fishermen whose bodies are hardly traced is likely to be as a result of being eaten by crocodiles, some residents speculate. Crocodiles have not been reported to causing harm on Lake Geroge although young ones have been seen at Hamukungu landing site of recent.

However, there is a possibility of the reptiles accessing Lake George because they have been injuring people on Kazinga Channel that connects Lake George and Lake Edward. It has been a story of crocodile attacks on Lake Edward especially in Katwe-Kabatoro town council where two people were eaten up two years back.

By press time, a six man team led by the Vice Chairman of the Beach Management Unit at Kahendero had boarded an engine boat to resume the search for the two bodies.

Mr. William Walakira the older brother to one of the victims (Salongo) described the death as  “ a threatening situation” because it was not so shallow where the two drowned to the extent of their bodies not being recovered.

He said the deceased has left behind a widow and five children.