9 fishermen drown in Lake Tanganyika

Nine residents of Mpasa village in Kasanga division in Kalambo district, Rukwa region who does their fishing activities in Lake Tanganyika are feared dead after their boat christened in Kiswahili word  ‘MV Ubinadamu’ on which they were traveling from Mpasa village to Mpulungu in Zambia capsized.  Those feared dead with their ages in brackets are Fadhili Nkambi(30), Audifance Miele,(43) Shabani Kasogota,(33), Linus Manyunyu(38), Kashindi Tantika(25), Venus Alberto(35), Geofrey Kazumba(24), Mwambe ntantapata (21, and Mathias Ulaya(20).  Confirming the accident, Rukwa Regional Officer for Surface and Marine Transport Authority (SUMATRA), David Chilagi said that, the incident occurred in July 28^th at around 17:00hours when 9 fishermen set out aboard their boat to a neighboring Zambia with intent to sell their fish consignment.

Fishermen in Lake Tanganyika in western part of Tanzania.

He said that, the boat which belongs to one Alberto Majaliwa encountered such a peril in the midst of the Lake and capsized, thus forcing all passengers on board to drown and their bodies are yet to be found up to now. Chilagi further noted that, the boat was found after five days floating on the shores of Shumbu Lake in Zambia with nothing in it. He added that, the heavy boxes containing fish and other unspecified goods the boat had carried disappeared in the water. The Regional boss for Sumatra further noted that, the cause of accident was due to water current which was accompanied by Lake Winds that caused water pollution a factor that the small boat could not withstand the situation. However, Chilagi noted that, efforts to look for the passengers or their bodies is still going on and added that, his office is holding the boat which he noted was not officially registered. He also disclosed that,  moreover the boat’s voyage to Zambia was quite illegal, probably is the reason why its pilot was voyaging along deep waters with a view to evade taxes of the valuable fish consignment it had carried from the TRA authorities.