Kampala  - A heavily loaded boat capsized on a north-western Ugandan lake Wednesday, drowning 18 people, a radio news report quoted police officials in the area as saying.

The Kampala-based Central Broadcasting Service (CBS) said that the boat carrying fish, passengers and traders sank under the heavy weight on Lake Albert, which lies along the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"The boat was overloaded and 18 people died," CBS quoted district police commander, Jamada Wandera, as saying. "There are only nine survivors who managed to swim ashore."

Boat accidents, which claim scores of lives on Uganda's lakes each year, are blamed on over-loading, mechanical faults and the near- absence of a well-equipped and adequately manned marine police force. (dpa)