Nigeria Boat Tragedy Kills 150 Mainly Women And Children
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – More than 150 people, including many women and children, were feared drowned after an overloaded boat sank in a river in north-western Nigeria, officials said Thursday.
The boat ferrying nearly 200 passengers to a market broke in two in the Niger River, according to investigators. Most people on board were women and children traveling from Niger state to neighboring Kebbi state.
National Inland Waterways Authority local manager Yusuf Birma said the “boat capacity was not up to the 180 passengers it carried.”
He added in published remarks that “only 20 people have been rescued alive, four dead confirmed while the remaining 156 people are still missing. They are believed to be underwater.”
Boat tragedies are common on Nigerian waterways due to overcrowding, as well as collisions with tree trunks under water, bad weather, and a lack of maintenance.
However, Wednesday’s toll would be one of the deadliest recent accidents.
Qasimu Umar Wara, a resident of the nearby town of Wara, told media that five bodies had been recovered, but many more are due to washing up in the days ahead.
The boat was overloaded, he said: “My brother is among those missing. This is the worst boat accident that has happened in this water.”
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