Tourism Police and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) officers have mounted a search for a Dutch national who went missing in Murchison Falls National Park part of Nwoya District on Wednesday night.
Ms Sofia Isabella Federika is said to have told friends that she was going for a short call only to wander from the Students Education Centre to the bank of the River Nile. Tourism police commander Wilson Omoding said they have not lost hope and the search for Ms Federika is ongoing. “We haven’t found her yet but all efforts to look for her are still on,” Mr Omoding said yesterday.
Ms Federika is a volunteer at Rubaga Hospital.
UWA officials searched for her as soon as they learnt that she was missing but their efforts were hampered by darkness and called them off until Thursday.
“Early morning (Thursday) the team discovered a bottle she had been holding, by the Victoria Nile river bank, prompting fear that she might have walked to this point,” UWA statement read in part.
River Nile is infested with crocodiles and hippopotamuses that are known to attack human beings.
Previous incidents
Since the 1999 incident in which foreign tourists were killed by rebels in Bwindi National Park, cases of missing tourists have been rare.
In 2011, one female tourist went missing in Kibaale National Park but she was found days later after a massive search.
After the incident, police had to establish a Tourism Police Unit to ensure the safety of tourist sites and visitors from within Uganda and outside the country.
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