Emergency teams have rescued 50 people so far from the scene of the tragedy
At least 29 people have died in a boat accident in Niger State, Nigeria, after a wooden vessel capsized on Tuesday morning, state emergency officials have said.
The boat, carrying about 90 passengers including women and children, overturned near the riverside community of Gausawa in Borgu Local Government Area.
Officials linked the accident to overloading and a collision with a submerged tree stump. Emergency teams recovered 29 bodies and rescued 50 people, while others remain missing.
An anonymous source in the state Ministry of Transport told Punch that none of the passengers were wearing lifejackets, which contributed to the high death toll.
The Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) confirmed the incident in a statement. “According to our desk officer who led the search and rescue operations, the boat took off from a community called Tugan Sule in Shagunu ward with 90 people on board, which included women and children, heading to Dugga for a condolence visit,” the Director General of the NSEMA, Abdullahi Baba-Arah, stated.
“Search and rescue operations are still ongoing for possible recovery of missing persons,” the official added.
On Thursday, Baba-Arah told Xinhua by phone that the rescue operation had not been completed. He also rejected earlier reports claiming more than 60 bodies had been recovered.
Boat accidents are frequent in Nigeria, often blamed on overloading, poor maintenance safety practices. Tuesday’s incident followed another fatal boat crash in the region last month in which at least ten people were confirmed to have died, according to the Sokoto State Emergency Management Agency.
In June, seven people reportedly drowned when their vessel capsized near Rinaye village in Shagari Local Government Area.
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