Rescue agencies confirmed on Monday August 12 that sixteen persons are said to have perished in northern Nigeria after their overcrowded boat overturned.
The national rescue organization, Nema, reported on X that “the boat capsized” on Sunday morning when farmers from the hamlet of Dundaye in Sokoto state were paddling to their rice fields. “36 passengers were on board,” the agency said.
“Nineteen people survived the tragedy, one corpse was pulled from the river and 16 people – men, women and children – are still missing,” Nema stated.
“Nearly a day has passed since the boat catastrophe, and it is thought that everyone who has not yet been found is dead. Retrieving the bodies from the river is the current goal,” according to Nema’s regional manager Aliyu Shehu Kafindangiya. Thirty or so fishermen and divers are involved in the search.
The boat was overloaded “well beyond its capacity,” according to Nasiru Garba Kalambaina, Disaster Advisor to the Governor of Sokoto State, and this was the reason behind the catastrophe. The boat was “supposed to carry 15 passengers.”
Due to overcrowding and poor maintenance, boat accidents occur often on Nigeria’s poorly managed waterways, especially during the annual rainy season when rivers and lakes overrun their banks.
According to authorities, fifteen farmers perished on Thursday when their boat capsized in the Gamoda River in the northern state of Jigawa when they were traveling to their property.