At least 15 bodies believed to be of victims of a boat accident – MV Mtambala which sank at Moba in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on December, 14 have been found in Lake Tanganyika.

According to information gathered from Kalilani village in Uvinza District, the 15 bodies were fished out of the Lake on December 21.

Kigoma Region Police Commander, Jafari Mohamed told journalist yesterday that he received information that MV Tambala from the DRC had sank with 500 people on board.

The ship which was en route from Moba to Kalemie sank at a distance of 50 kilometres from Lubengera area in Kigoma Region.

According to the police commander, only 230 passengers were rescued and the whereabouts of the remaining 270 passengers are not known.

He said on December, 21 Kigoma Regional Commissioner, Issa Machibya was notified about the bodies floating on the Lake and immediately formed a task team which included the police, the army, Uvinza District Council, the national intelligence unit and Tanzania’s embassy in the DRC.

The police commander said the team went to the area and managed to rescue 15 bodies that included three men, five women, three girls, three boys and one baby.

He said the process to identifying the bodies has already started as samples were taken for DNA tests.

The police commander said the burial of the bodies took place on December 22 around 3pm at Kililani village.

He said the task team is still making a follow up to establish if there are more bodies in the Lake.

The police commander established that all of the bodies were of people from the DRC.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN