A boat carrying mostly women and children capsized in the River Niger, leaving dozens feared dead, according to local officials and residents. The passengers were returning from a religious festival when the accident occurred on Tuesday evening.
The wooden boat, loaded with nearly 300 people, sank around 8:30 p.m. (1930 GMT), said Abdullahi Baba Arah, head of Niger State Emergency Management Agency. Rescue teams and local volunteers managed to save 150 people, but the search for more survivors continues.
Ismaila Umar, a local boat skipper, expressed doubts about finding additional survivors. This tragedy follows a similar disaster in Niger state 18 months ago, where over 100 people lost their lives. Overcrowding and poor boat maintenance are often blamed for such incidents on Nigeria’s waterways.
