DAR ES SALAAM, (Reuters) – Eighteen Tanzanian children  drowned when their crowded boat capsized in strong winds on Lake  Victoria, a regional official said yesterday.

Thirty seven people were on board the small boat when it  sank on Thursday in Africa’s largest lake.

Boats capsize often on Lake Victoria, which is roughly the  size of Ireland, due to rough waters and poorly maintained  ships.

“All 36 passengers on the boat were primary school pupils.  Eighteen of them died,” Mwanza regional commissioner Abbas  Kandoro told Reuters by phone. He said 19 were rescued,  including a crewman.

“We suspect the cause of the accident was overcrowding of  the boat and bad weather.”

Kandoro said rescue workers had so far recovered 13 bodies  from the lake which is bordered by Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.