At Least 60 Dead After Boat Carrying Over 100 People Sinks
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NEED TO KNOW
- The death toll in a Nigeria boat accident has risen to 60, according to officials
- The vessel, which was carrying around 100 people, sank in Niger, taking the lives of mostly women and children
- The boat sunk on Sept. 2 when it collided with a submerged tree stump
A deadly boat accident has taken the lives of at least 60 people in the Nigerian state of Niger, Reuters reported, citing local officials.
The incident occurred on Tuesday, Sept. 2, when a boat carrying over 100 passengers was overloaded and hit a submerged tree stump in the River Niger, causing it to sink, according to the BBC.
The outlet reported that the passengers were on their way to pay their respects to the family of a recently deceased individual when the incident occurred.
“The cause was attributed to overloading and collision with a tree stump,” the Niger State Emergency Management Agency told the local newspaper Daily Trust.
According to Al Jazeera, the boat left the town of Tungan Sule around 11 a.m. local time and was on its way to the town of Dugga.
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While the death toll was originally reported to be around 32 people, Abdullahi Baba Ara, NSEMA’s director general and chair of Borgu Local Government Area, later shared the rising numbers.
“The death toll of the boat incident has risen to 60,” he told Reuters. “Ten people have been found in serious condition, and many are still being sought.”
Sa’adu Inuwa Muhammad, the district head of Shagumi, told Reuters that the majority of those found dead in the incident were women and children.
However, 50 people have been rescued so far, Hussaini Isah, an official with Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency, told ABC News.
PEOPLE has reached out to the Niger State Emergency Management Agency for additional information on the incident.
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Boat accidents and overcrowding are common in Nigeria.
The BBC reported that in February, Adegboyega Oyetola, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, created a Special Committee on the Prevention of Boat Mishaps in Nigeria, and in May the ministry announced plans to distribute 42,000 life jackets across the country.
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Life jackets are mandatory for water travellers in Nigeria, but this law is rarely enforced.
In May, the National Inland Water Ways Authority also began a campaign titled “No Life Jacket, No Travel.”
Credit to Nypost AND Peoples
