Five perish after boat capsizes in Lake Victoria

This image taken on October 21, 2017 shows a section of Remba Island in Lake Victoria, Homa Bay County. Five people died after their boat capsized near the island on Friday. PHOTO | BARACK ODUOR | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The boat the four Ugandans and a Kenyan business lady were on capsized near Remba Island.

Five people perished after their boat capsized in Lake Victoria, Homa Bay County.

The boat the four Ugandans and a Kenyan business lady were on capsized near Remba Island in Suba North constituency on Friday night.

Homa Bay Beach Management Unit Network official Edward Oremo alleged that they were transporting crates of illicit alcohol from Uganda.

"We suspect that the boat capsized because it was overloaded with crates of alcohol smuggled into the islands from Uganda," Mr Oremo said.

However, Mbita OCPD Wilson Nanga denied that alcohol was being transported.

"It is not true that the five who have lost their lives in the lake were smuggling illicit brew from Uganda.

"We have launched investigations to ascertain the real cause of the accident," Mr Nanga said.