Police and army personnel in Kiira region have retrieved the body of five-year-old Amirror Alwi who drowned in River Nile on Sunday.
The body was retrieved by a joint team of Uganda People's Defense Forces and police marine units from former Budhagali falls in Budondo sub-county, Jinja district about eight kilometres from Kiira dam.
The deceased, alongside her parents were having an adventure tour along the Nile on Sunday evening when their speed boat suffered engine failure and stopped in the middle of the river. It was then dragged through Kiira dam, leading to the drowning of the victims.
In a statement, power generator, Eskom said the boat experienced engine failure and was carried by the river current towards Kiira power station whose spillways were open to release water. A lone boater who attempted to rescue the family was also washed away by the current but got rescued by the UPDF marine.
Although the deceased, rescuer Patrick Odoi and her mother, Shakira Kawesa drowned immediately, officers attached to UPDF marine unit managed to rescue her father, Hassan Alwi and brother, Jafalu Alwi.
The Kiira region police spokesperson, Abbey Ngako, says that the body of the deceased was on Tuesday afternoon taken to Jinja regional referral hospital mortuary for postmortem and later on handed over to her family for burial.
Ngako adds that efforts are underway to ensure the missing body of Odoi is retrieved. A source from the Source of River Nile Tourism Site who spoke to us on condition of anonymity said the tragic speed boat had undergone several tests before the accident.
"On receiving the victim's order, our colleague made several water tests to ascertain the stability of the speed boat on water," he says.
Source
