Kampala: The police have confirmed reports of a boat capsizing on the Ugandan side of Lake Victoria. All 30 people onboard have drowned. The vessel capsized yesterday, about 6 kilometers (4 miles) from its destination, Kyatu Island in Lake Victoria, police spokesman Hassan Kasinje said.

The passengers boarded the boat on the shore about 200 kilometers (125 miles) east of the Ugandan capital, Kampala, Kasinje said. The boat was locally made, and had a capacity to carry 60 people and an outboard motor.

He said that fishermen who were about half a kilometer (mile) away saw the boat capsizing and rowed to the scene, but till the time they reached the boat, all the passengers had drowned.

Kasinje said police have found 17 bodies and are looking for the rest. They are certain that no one survived the accident.

Boat accidents are common in Uganda, which has a number of lakes, and are usually blamed on overloading and the near absence of law enforcement to monitor boat traffic.

Lake Victoria, the world's second largest body of fresh water, has a number of islands and borders Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.