At least 60 dead in boat accident in north-central Nigeria, several missing, officials say

According to the chair of Borgu Local Government Area, Abdullahi Baba Ara, the casualty figure was rising. “The death toll of the boat incident has risen to 60. Ten people have been found in serious condition and many are still being sought,” Baba Ara told Reuters.

The boat capsized in the river after crashing with the underneath tree trunk at around 11am (local time). Sa’adu Inuwa Muhammad, the district head of Shagumi, said he reached the incident site in an hour after the accident.

“I was at the scene yesterday around 12 pm until 4 pm. The boat carried more than 100 people. We were able to recover 31 corpses from the river. The boat was also recovered and removed,” Muhammad said, before the death toll rose up to 60.

Muhammad added that the majority of the victims were women and children, and that four of the deceased were buried on Tuesday in accordance with Islamic rites.

The Niger State Emergency Management Agency said that local divers and emergency personnel were searching for the victims after their boat crashed in the river. The agency said the boat was overloaded and crashed with a tree stump.

(with inputs from Reuters)

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