Police Retrieve Lifeless Body of UNOC Engineer from River Nile

Police in Kiira Region have retrieved the body of Gershom Rwakasanga, an operations manager at the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) in Jinja.

He drowned on Saturday evening at Busowoko Resort Beach in Butagaya Sub County, Jinja District. According to Abdullah Suuta, the resort’s General Manager, Rwakasanga arrived at the beach around 5:30 p.m. with his daughter for an outing.

They hired three tour guides and took photos along the falls. Moments later, Rwakasanga moved to the water massage point, a deep and slippery area between sharp rocks.

Suuta says Rwakasanga likely slipped and fell into the water. He suspects the deceased may have hit his head on the rocks and became unconscious.

His body got trapped in the rocks, frustrating early rescue efforts.

Suuta says the resort has 20 standby divers. Ten were on duty at the time of the accident around 6:30 p.m.

They called the Police Marine Unit for support, but searches that night failed.

Kiira Regional Police Spokesperson, James Mubi, says their marine team resumed the search on Sunday morning with local divers. They recovered the body around 12:30 p.m., trapped between rocks.

Mubi says the body was taken to Jinja Regional Referral Hospital mortuary for postmortem.