The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kalangala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Measles – Rubella immunization team in Kalangala on Friday evening survived drowning after their boat collided with another canoe boat on Lake Victoria. The team has been traversing the Islands in Mazinga sub county.
An eye witness Gerald Kalyango in a telephone interview with URN on Friday evening said the team has been moving in a canoe boat from Kyeseerwa island to Mawaala landing site on Funve Island before colliding with another fishing canoe boat about 300 meters away from Mawaala landing site.
“After colliding their engine fell into water and they started struggling on how to get to the shore. Their boat couldn’t move from the spot they were in,” narrated Kalyango.
As the health officers struggled in their boat, the boat they collided with continued did not stop and continued to the distant shores. The Health workers later communicated with the District Health Officer Hillary Bitakaramire who immediately dispatched a speed boat to save the health workers.
Steven Banadda, a member of the health team that survived the boat accident told URN that the boat had been moving on high speed in order to reach Mawaala landing site in time to immediately immunize children on the island.
The team was dispatched on Wednesday by the District Health Officer Hillary Bitakaramire to work in Mazinga sub county on the Mass measles campaign.
The team has already covered Nkose, Miyana, Butulume, Kyeseerwa, Lujaabwa, Kachungwa, Gunga and Mirindi landing site. About 417 children have so far been immunised against measles and rubella.
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