Newly-wed British man dies trying to save son from drowning in the Nile

A newly-wed British man has died trying to save his son from drowning in the Nile River.

Robert Kaweesi, 48, was on holiday with his wife and four children at a safari lodge in Uganda when the family went for a swim.

But his son, 12, was quickly “overpowered” by the force of Africa's longest river, according to police, prompting his father to swim after him.

The son was eventually saved with the help of locals but Kaweesi disappeared in the water during the rescue effort and did not resurface.

On Friday morning, Ugandan police divers recovered a body which was later confirmed to be Mr Kaweesi, according to local media.

“The body of Robert Kaweesi has just been recovered by police divers from the River Nile. They are in the process of transferring the body to Pakwach health centre IV pending postmortem,” Josephine Angucia, the local police spokesperson, told the Nile Post.

“When they went swimming in the river, the son was overpowered by the waves. The deceased wanted to rescue his son but instead drowned and his son was saved,” the police said.

On Friday there were unconfirmed reports on local media that Mr Kaweesi had been swimming with his family in a restricted part of the river.

A spokesperson for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office later confirmed Mr Kaweesi had died.

“We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Uganda and are in contact with the local authorities,” the spokesperson said.

It is understood that Kaweesi and his wife had got married in Uganda earlier this month before heading to the river-side lodge for a family holiday.

Kaweesi, a Ugandan-born UK citizen, had lived in Britain for the last twenty years. He worked as a refrigerator contractor and lived in Birmingham.