Kano, Nigeria:
More than 150 persons have been missing and feared drowned in northwest Nigeria on Wednesday right after an overloaded boat ferrying passengers to a market place sank in the Niger River, nearby officials stated.
The boat was travelling among central Niger state and Wara in northwest Kebbi state when it went down, National Inland Waterways Authority nearby manager Yusuf Birma told reporters.
“The boat capacity was not up to the 180 passengers it carried,” Birma stated.
“As we speak, only 20 people have been rescued alive, four dead confirmed while the remaining 156 people are still missing and they are believed to be underwater.”
Another official had earlier stated about 140 persons have been missing right after the Wednesday morning disaster.
Boat tragedies are frequent on Nigerian waterways largely due to overcrowding, negative climate and lack of upkeep, but Wednesday’s toll would be one of the deadliest current accidents.
“The boat involved was a wooden boat which was old and very weak but these people (skippers) would not listen when we sensitised them to reduce the number of passengers they carry in their boats,” Birma stated.
He stated passengers have been heading to a market place in Malele in Borgu nearby government region of Niger state, when the boat sank an hour into the journey.
Local district administrator Abdullahi Buhari Wara earlier blamed the accident on overloading as the boat was meant to ferry no more than 80 passengers.
The vessel was also loaded with bags of sand from a gold mine, he stated.
Early this month 30 persons drowned when an overloaded boat capsized in Niger state.
The boat ferrying one hundred nearby traders split into two right after hitting a stump in the course of a storm as they have been returning from a nearby market place, according to emergency officials.
The Niger is West Africa’s most important river operating in a crescent by means of Guinea to Nigeria’s Niger Delta and is a essential nearby trade route for some of the nations.
(This story has not been edited by TheSpuzz employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)