Lagos:
A Nigerian river ferry capsized Friday killing at the least 27 individuals and leaving many lacking, officers informed AFP of the most recent in a collection of mass drownings on the nation’s busy waterways.
The catastrophe occurred on the Niger, close to Dambo in Kogi state, at a degree the place West Africa’s mightiest river will be greater than 600 metres (yards) throughout.
“It is unclear how many individuals have been on board, individuals do not normally preserve a report of passengers,” mentioned Sandra Musa, of the state emergency administration company. “Search and rescue continues to be ongoing for survivors and attainable our bodies.”
Musa mentioned 27 our bodies had been recovered. Kogi State Pink Cross spokesman Abubakar Abullahi mentioned the boat reportedly had greater than 50 individuals on board.
Villagers and volunteers downstream of the accident have been urged to be looking out for our bodies.
“It is not clear what precipitated the accident,” Musa mentioned. “It might be from turbulence or from the boat hitting a snag. Boat operators do not normally have life jackets, so not one of the our bodies recovered had life jackets on.
“The age of the boat may need performed a task. Normally the lifespan of boat is between 5 and ten years, however you see boats aged 20 years. We can have a greater concept of the scenario tomorrow.”
Kogi State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo’s workplace issued a press release lamenting the casualties and urging non-public boat operators and native authorities to make sure security enhancements.
Ododo, it mentioned, “was notably involved that a lot of the victims have been girls, petty merchants and artisans who’re concerned in reliable enterprise actions to earn a residing and contribute to the financial system of the state.”
Friday’s tragedy was the most recent in a collection of boat disasters on this stretch of the Niger flowing from the northeastern border in direction of central Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.
Final month, round a 100 individuals have been feared lifeless after a ship carrying 300 passengers, a lot of them girls and kids, to a Muslim pageant in Niger State flipped over within the river.
In September, an overloaded boat sank whereas carrying greater than 50 farmers throughout the Gummi River in Zamfara state. Greater than 40 are believed to have died.
In June 2023, greater than 100 individuals died when a river boat carrying round 250 passengers capsized within the north-central state of Kwara, one of many nation’s deadliest waterway accidents in years.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
