A man assisting the British team ascending the River Nile by Zapcat has been killed after the group was attacked by rebels.
A man assisting the British team ascending the River Nile by Zapcat has been killed after the group was attacked by rebels.
Keith Steve Willis, who lived in Uganda, was helping the team retrieve some of their equipment from the banks of the Nile after some of the fiercest rapids of the trip, in the Murchison Falls National Park.
Two Ugandan rebels fired shots at a Land Rover driven by Steve Willis and the team were forced to scatter into the surrounding bush.
Co-leader Neil McGrigor from Lymington, Hampshire, was injured and unable to escape.
He was brought back to the Land Rover as the rebels looted it and then set it alight.
The rebels then retreated and McGrigor suffered further injuries in his attempt to put out the fire.
He then raised the alarm and three of the team – McGrigor, fellow Lymington man George Heathcote and New Zealander Garth MacIntyre – were extracted by helicopter from the region.
Cam McLeay from New Zealand spent over five hours in the bush before returning to the road where he was located by the Ugandan army.
MacIntyre suffered a gunshot graze to his head and both he and McGrigor have been treated for their injuries.
A spokesman said: “The team are due to be reunited in Kampala later today. Their thoughts and concerns are with Steve Willis’s family. No decision has been taken regarding the future of the Expedition.”
See Motor Boats Monthly’s January issue for more details.
