(CNN) — At least 35 people died in a boat accident on Lake Victoria in Uganda on Saturday, according to the Ugandan Police Force.

Police said the boat was "in poor mechanical shape" and was overloaded with passengers on a lake cruise when it capsized.

A marine unit has rescued 26 people, and searches are ongoing to find more passengers. More than 50 people are unaccounted for, said Army Lt. Col. Deo Akiiki Asimwe.

Authorities said they expect the death toll to rise.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni offered condolences to the victims, adding that "according to preliminary information from the security services" the boat was "private, unregistered, unlicensed and maybe uninsured."</s>KAMPALA, Uganda - In a tragic incident, at least 29 people were killed after an overcrowded cruise boat from Uganda capsized on Lake Victoria, near the country's capital of Kampala.

The ferry was carrying 100 party revellers, when it sank in Lake Victoria, which is not only Africa's largest lake but also the world's largest tropical lake.

In the incident that occurred off Uganda's Mukono district on Saturday, at least 29 people were killed, and 27 others were rescued from the lake.

A senior police officer, Zurah Ganyana said that the boat overturned and sank about 7 pm Saturday.

According to local officials, two small fishing boats rushed to rescue those on the sinking party boat but soon became overloaded and sank too.

The Ugandan police said that the party boat was carrying close to 100 people when it sank.

In a statement, Patrick Onyango, the Deputy police spokesman said, "The boat was overloaded and secondly there was bad weather."

Onyango confirmed that the vessel had encountered rough conditions at the time of the accident and added, "Our rescue team is still on the ground trying to rescue whoever we can find."

However, despite search and rescue operations being launched following the incident and continuing on Sunday, the police said that an unknown number of people still remained missing.

Police officer Ganyana also noted that the boat did not have a valid license to operate.

She added that the vessel had been in poor condition and had been grounded for some time.

Adding that the couple that owned the boat were believed to be among the victims.

According to the local media in Uganda, there were several well-known people including artists and socialites on the boat, including a famous musician and the prince of a traditional kingdom.

On Sunday, the media confirmed that Prince Daudi Kintu Wasajja, a brother of King Ronald Mutebi of Uganda's largest traditional kingdom, Buganda had been rescued from the water.

Even the musician Iryn Namubiru survived from the vessel.

Reports noted that the boat that capsized is hired out for weekend parties and many that were aboard the vessel had no lifejackets.

On Sunday, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni said that the cruise boat was carrying 120 people - which was more than twice its capacity of 50, when it capsized.

The President fumed on Twitter, “The operators of this boat will be charged with criminal negligence and manslaughter, if they have not already been punished for their mistake by dying in the accident."

He added that there was a party going on aboard the boat, with loud music, at the time of the accident.

Adding, “They might not have heard the emergency commands of the captain, who is still unaccounted for."

Meanwhile, Asuman Mugenyi, the national director of police operations said that one of the reasons many people died so close to shore, was likely because of “intoxication."

The police chief also cited details revealed by some of the survivors, who said that there had been a good number of life jackets aboard the doomed vessel, but that passengers did not wear them.

He added that the boat’s passengers most likely panicked when the vessel started to sink.

The police said later on Sunday that marine teams were "doing whatever they can to find more bodies."

Yet, Lake Victoria witnesses accident regularly and often overcrowded vessels are blamed for the tragic incidents.

Most recently, in September, over 200 people died after an overloaded ferry sank in the lake, off Tanzania.

One of the worst ferry disasters of the last century and Tanzania's deadliest maritime incident in recent decades took place in May 1996.

Up to 1,000 people aboard MV Bukoba were killed after the ferry, that was heading to Mwanza, capsized on Lake Victoria.</s>KAMPALA (Reuters) - At least 10 people have died after a cruise boat capsized in Lake Victoria on Saturday evening while more than 40 others were rescued, Ugandan police said.

“The rescue mission is still on to find others,” said police spokesman Emilian Kayima.

The cruise boat went down off Mukono district, which is close to the capital Kampala, the private Daily Monitor newspaper reported on its website.</s>A Ugandan prince has been rescued from a boat accident which left at least 10 people dead.

Prince David Wasajja, a brother of Buganda King Kabaka Ronald Mutebi, was on the boat, along with singer Iryn Namubiru and rapper The Mith, according to reports.

A police spokesman said marine units had pulled 40 survivors out of Lake Victoria on Saturday, where it was reported 120 people were on board the crashed vessel.

Rescue efforts were to continue overnight as it is feared others may be trapped under the completely submerged boat.

The vessel was heading to Motola Beach having left Portbell, Uganda.

A person cliaming to be Iryn's manager said she was among those who were safe, local media claism.

Video footage said to be of revellers on the boat before it capsized showed them dancing and drinking while posing for the camera.

Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the third largest, by area, in the world after Lake Superior and the Caspian Sea. It is approximately 26,590sq miles.

Boat accidents are increasingly common on East Africa's major lakes including Lake Victoria, which is surrounded by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

In 2012, at least 145 people died in a ferry disaster in the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean, on a vessel that was overcrowded

Over 200 people were killed in a Tanzanian ferry disaster in September, with officials saying it had been dangerously overcrowded.</s>KAMPALA: At least 10 people have died after a boat capsized in Lake Victoria on Saturday evening while more than 40 others were rescued, Ugandan police said.

"The rescue mission is still on to find others," said police spokesman Emilian Kayima.</s>Uganda: At least 10 die in boat accident on Lake Victoria

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A Ugandan police official says at least 10 people have died in a boat accident on Lake Victoria.

Police spokesman Emilian Kayima said late Saturday that police marine units had pulled 40 survivors from the water.

He said search and rescue efforts will continue overnight for others believed to be trapped under the water in the completely submerged boat. He gave no details on the cause of the accident.

It was not immediately clear how many people were on board.

Boat accidents are increasingly common on East Africa's major lakes including Lake Victoria, which is surrounded by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

Over 200 people were killed in a Tanzanian ferry disaster in September, with officials saying it had been dangerously overcrowded.</s>A mass rescue operation is underway after the cruise boat sank while carrying 120 people to a party. The death toll could rise to more than 50 as police said 39 people are unaccounted for. About 70 people have been rescued and 13 people have been found dead. Uganda’s Police Force Marine Unit is searching for survivors.

A-list Ugandan celebrities and Ugandan Prince David Wasajja were onboard the boat, local media reports. Prince David is brother of King Muwenda Mutebi II of Buganda - a kingdom in Uganda. Father of one Prince David, 52, lived in the UK when he studied at the University of Nottingham. He is known as a socialite, branded alongside others as one of the ‘Hash Harriers’.

It is understood Prince David was among those rescued. Singer Iryn Namubiru was also on board, but her manager said she was safe. Rapper The Mith was another passenger on the glamorous cruise. Passengers were in good spirits when they boarded the boat in Portbell, Luzira, earlier today, and were seen enjoying drinks.

Lake Victoria is the world’s second largest lake, bordering Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. Just two months ago 80 people died in the lake when a ferry overturned. And the disaster comes after 10 people were killed when a boat capsized in 2010. It had been carrying passengers and fish from an island in the lake.</s>29 drown in capsized boat in Uganda, toll expected to rise

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda police say 29 people died when a boat capsized in Lake Victoria near the capital, Kampala.

Senior police officer Zurah Ganyana said rescue teams are retrieving bodies from the boat that overturned and sank Saturday night. She said that 27 people were rescued overnight, lower than earlier reports. More than 90 passengers were on the boat, leading officials to believe that the death toll will rise.

Ganyana said the boat was in poor condition and had been grounded for some time. She said it did not have a valid license to operate.

The boat was taking passengers on a pleasure cruise on Lake Victoria, a popular weekend activity for young people in Kampala. It capsized close to shore at about 7 p.m. local time.</s>Mutima, Uganda | AFP | Twenty-two people have died and more than 60 are feared drowned after a pleasure boat sank on Lake Victoria, Ugandan police said Sunday.

The vessel carrying close to a hundred revellers sank during bad weather on Saturday in the latest deadly incident to affect passenger boats on Africa’s largest lake.

“Twenty-two bodies have been recovered and 26 people rescued,” said Asuman Mugenyi, director of operations for the Uganda police. “According to one of the survivors there were more than 90 people on board.”

The boat, on which party-goers were drinking, dancing and listening to music, sank a short distance from the shore off Mutima Beach, Mutola Island in Mukono District, close to the capital Kampala.

Mugenyi said overloading and bad weather were likely to blame.

“We expect (the number of passengers) is beyond the capacity of the boat. It was overloaded and unfortunately people were drunk,” Mugenyi said. “We suspect the mechanical condition of the boat and the weather contributed to the sinking.”

“A big storm hit,” said local government official Richard Kikongo. “It can be fine on land but bad weather on the lake.”

Kikongo said first responders were among the victims. “Fishermen on two small boats could see that the boat was sinking and went to help. People tried to jump onto the boats but they were too many and those sunk. The rescuers died too,” he said.

Nearby residents said the vessel was hired out for parties every weekend and often overloaded with revellers.

The Mutima Country Haven resort had been converted to a triage centre and morgue on Sunday morning where police were collecting the swollen bodies of victims

Lake Victoria is the site of many boat disasters. In September, hundreds died when the MV Nyerere passenger ferry sank on the Tanzanian side of Lake Victoria.

With a surface area of 70,000 square kilometres (27,000 square miles), oval-shaped Lake Victoria is roughly the size of Ireland and is shared by Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.

It is not uncommon for ferries to capsize on the lake and the number of fatalities is often high due to a shortage of life jackets and the fact that many local people cannot swim.

In 1966, more than 800 people lost their lives on Lake Victoria when the MV Bukoba sank off the mainland town of Mwanza, according to the Red Cross.</s>KAMPALA, Uganda — A Ugandan police official says at least 10 people have died in a boat accident on Lake Victoria.

Police spokesman Emilian Kayima said late Saturday that police marine units had pulled 40 survivors from the water.

He said search and rescue efforts will continue overnight for others believed to be trapped under the water in the completely submerged boat. He gave no details on the cause of the accident.

It was not immediately clear how many people were on board.

Boat accidents are increasingly common on East Africa’s major lakes including Lake Victoria, which is surrounded by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

Over 200 people were killed in a Tanzanian ferry disaster in September, with officials saying it had been dangerously overcrowded.

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At least 35 people died after a cruise boat carrying party revellers capsized on Lake Victoria, Uganda.