Nigeria:
Thirty people today drowned when an overloaded boat capsized in central Nigeria’s Niger state, an emergency official told AFP Monday.
The boat ferrying one hundred neighborhood traders split into two immediately after hitting a stump for the duration of a windstorm as they had been returning from a industry on Saturday, stated Ibrahim Audu Hussein, spokesman for Niger state emergency agency.
“So far 30 bodies have been recovered and five are still missing,” Hussein stated on the accident that occurred at Tijana village in Munya district.
“Sixty-five passengers were rescued with the help of local divers,” he stated.
Heavy rains had been hampering the search but divers had been “braving the odds”, Husseini stated.
Boat capsizes are typical in Nigerian waterways for the reason that of overcrowding and lack of upkeep, especially in the annual rainy season.
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