Man commits suicide off Jinja Nile bridge

Jinja, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Kiira regional police marine unit and local fishermen are searching for the body of 39-year-old Samuel Bave, a resident of Kayogera village in Muterere sub-county, Bugiri district who reportedly jumped to death in River Nile on Friday evening.

Bave reportedly jumped off the new Nile bridge. His bag containing a national identity card, clothing, toothpaste and a bus ticket was found floating across the river.

CCTV footage retrieved from police cameras shows Bave folding his pair of trousers and shirt with his bag on the back before climbing the guards of the pedestrian walkways and diving into the river.

One of the UPDF officers manning the Nile bridge checkpoint, who preferred to speak on condition of anonymity, says that they thoroughly checked Bave before they cleared him to access the bridge but he jumped into the river about 200 meters away from them.

“He looked calm, we checked his bag, he shared his National ID particulars with us. We screened his temperature and even cracked a few jokes with him, however, about 10 minutes later,  fishermen called to inform us how a man had drowned in the river,” he said.

Joel Mugulusi, a fisherman at Nalufenya A landing site says that Bave drowned himself from a deep spot, adding that he didn’t have the required gears to rescue him.

“Most of us had already planted our nets at the different points within the river and while making some supervisory rounds, we saw Bave drown in the river at a dangerous spot, comprising speedy running waters and we only managed to retrieve his bag, which we handed over to security personnel,” he said.

The Kiira Regional police spokesperson, James Mubi says that a team of volunteer divers have since boosted the marine unit efforts to search different points within the river and they hope to retrieve the deceased’s body soonest.

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