At least 16 people have died and several dozens are missing after a boat carrying nearly 300 passengers capsized in north-central Nigeria, officials reported on Wednesday.
Most of the passengers, primarily women and children, were traveling to a remote location when the incident occurred on Tuesday, according to Abdullahi Baba Arah, head of the emergency relief agency for Niger State.
Baba Arah did not disclose the cause of the accident but mentioned that “brave local divers” had helped rescue approximately 150 survivors.
He explained that the boat was transporting nearly 300 people on the Niger River at Gbajibo, near Mokwa, when it encountered difficulties around 8:30 PM local time (7:30 PM GMT).
At least 16 bodies have been recovered, according to Ibrahim Audu Husseini, spokesperson for the emergency relief agency, who specified that the deceased included “two women and 14 men.”
“We expect to find more,” he said on Wednesday evening.
Boat accidents are common in Nigeria’s poorly regulated waterways, particularly during the rainy season. Last month, an overloaded boat sank while carrying over 50 farmers across the Gummi River in Zamfara State (northwest), with more than 40 believed to have perished in that tragedy.
