Abuja [Nigeria], December 1: At least 27 people died on Friday after a boat capsized in
the Niger River in central Nigeria. More than 100 others - mostly women - are still
missing, authorities said.
Some 200 passengers were taking the boat across the river - which acts as a border
between the states of Kogi and Niger - to a food market when it capsized, Ibrahim
Audu, the Niger State Emergency Management Agency spokesperson said. None of the
passengers were wearing life jackets.
The final toll is likely to increase, Kogi state authorities warned, as local divers were still
looking for the missing and no survivor was found 12 hours after the incident.
Overcrowded boat
"It's not clear what caused the accident," Sandra Musa, spokesperson of the Kogi State
Emergency Management Agency said.
"It could be from turbulence or from the boat hitting a snag. Boat operators don't usually
have life jackets, so none of the bodies recovered had life jackets on," she said. Musa
added that the age of the boat might have played a role.
Local media reported that the boat was overcrowded.
The Niger River reaches a width of more than 600 meters (almost 2,000 feet) in this part
of its course. Authorities said rescuers had trouble finding the location of the boat for
several hours after the incident occurred.
Authorities struggle to set safety measures
Drownings from overloaded, capsized boats are common in remote parts of Nigeria
where there is a lack of good roads for transport.
Hundreds of people have been killed in similar incidents in recent years.
In June 2023, over 100 people diedwhen a boat carrying around 250 people sank in the
state of Kwara.
The country's authorities have tried but struggled to implement safety measures such
as the use of life jackets, regular boat maintenance and refraining from onboarding
people above capacity.
Source: Times of Oman