Ugandan fisherman drowns in Nimule

A Ugandan fisherman drowned in River Unyama in the border town of Nimule in Eastern Equatoria state on Wednesday.

The deceased, identified as Amayo Alex, is said to have been fishing while drunk when his legs got entangled in his fishing net resulting in him drowning.

Captain David Khasmiro, the Nimule Town Council police inspector, told Radio Tamazuj yesterday that the deceased could not be rescued by his colleagues because they were afraid that he had been attacked by a crocodile.

“He is a fisherman, his net entangled his legs and at that time he was drunk. When the fishing net entangled his legs, he fell into the river until he drowned. There were some three people with him. When they saw this man struggling in the water, they thought that a crocodile had attacked him and they ran away. They would have rescued him if they tried but they feared thinking that it was a crocodile, leading to him drowning,” he explained.

The police official added, “he is a Ugandan by nationality, Madi by tribe.

This incident occurred on our side in South Sudan in Hai Rei, River Unyama. He is called Amayo Alex. This is the first time we registered such a case this year.”

The director for national civil defense and disaster management in Nimule Town Council, Lt. David Lohai, recommends the use of life jackets by fishermen in the area to avoid such accidents.

“My advice to fishermen is that we have something called a safety jacket which people are not using. If anyone is fishing using a motorboat they should be using safety jackets in case the boat overturns,” Lt. Lohai said.