Ugandan party boat capsizes on Lake Victoria, killing 29 people

At least 29 people are reported to have died after the capsizing of a cruise ship carrying party animals on Lake Victoria, police said.

The ship was carrying nearly 100 people when it sank Saturday near the Ugandan capital, Kampala.

The Ugandan media have named a number of known people on the boat, adding that the prince of a traditional kingdom had survived.

Lake Victoria experiences regular accidents, often involving overcrowded vessels.

Dozens of people died when a ferry sank on the lake off Tanzania in September.

The Saturday crash occurred off the Mukono District in Uganda.

Deputy police spokesman Patrick Onyango told Reuters: "The boat was overloaded and, secondly, it was bad."

More than 20 people were rescued from the water, according to police, but an unknown number is still missing.

Crying shore

Catherine Byaruhanga of the BBC, at the scene

The families and friends of some of those involved gathered near the shore. They were sitting under trees and staring through the fence. Whenever a body was removed from the water, there was shouting and screaming as some people recognized their loved ones.

On the grass, personal items were arranged – shoes, sweaters, wallets, keys – all that could be used to identify the victims. Above the head, the police deployed a helicopter to help search for other bodies that could have been washed away by the coast – but they lost hope of finding other survivors.

Among those saved was Prince Daudi Kintu Wasajja, brother of the king of Uganda's largest traditional kingdom, Buganda.

Ugandan media said the music artist Iryn Namubiru had also survived.

A number of popular artists and social figures would also be present.

The boat would have been rented for parties on weekends.

Many of those on board had no lifejacket.

Local officials said two small fishing boats that came to the rescue were also overloaded and sank.

Five things about Lake Victoria

• With an area greater than Switzerland, Lake Victoria is the second largest lake in the world and the largest in Africa.
• Shared by Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, some 30 million people depend on its resources
• Challenges include pollution and declining water levels – Lake Victoria's biodiversity has decreased by 50% since the 1980s
• The British colonialist John Hanning Speke gave him the name of Queen Victoria of England during his trip to this city in 1858
• Some asked that the name of the lake be changed – the proposals include its name in Luganda, Nalubaale, and Jumuiya Lake, which means "together" in Swahili.