Police in Kabale have retrieved a body of a 23-year-old man who allegedly drowned in Lake Bunyonyi.
Preliminary investigations reveal that the victim identified as Onesmus Twinamatsiko, drowned as he approached Katoma landing site on his way from Bufuka village across the lake.
He is a resident of Katoma cell, Mwendo parish Kitumba sub county Kabale district.
The incident according to Kigezi region police spokesperson Elly Maate, occurred on Sunday at about 7:00 pm.
“He was alone on his local canoe where he had no life protective gear,” Maate told journalists on Monday.
Inquiries are currently ongoing to establish the likely cause of drowning.
Experts recently singled out drowning as a silent killer that needs to be addressed urgently.
Frederick Oporia, a Research Associate and PhD Fellow at Makerere University School of Public Health said most of the drowning accidents mostly happened to men (85%) aged 24 years and more than half of these drownings (48%) were related to an occupational activity.
This was according to research findings on a two-phased countrywide survey on drowning carried out by the Makerere University School of Public Health.
Drowning he explained mostly affected people living around fishing communities.
The World Health Organisation, estimates that 236,000 people drown every year. Drowning according to statistics by WHO, is among the ten leading causes of death for children aged 5-14 years.
More than 90% of drowning deaths occur in Low- and-Middle-Income-Countries (LMICs), with Africa being among the most affected regions.
