Dozens dead or missing after boat capsizes in river – DW – 11/30/2024

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.

mk/ab (AP, AFP, Reuters)