No fewer than 29 persons are feared dead and several others missing following a boat mishap in Borgu local government area of Niger State.
Eyewitness say the boat which had 90 persons onboard, left Tunga Sule and began having problems at Gausawa where it capsized.
It was further gathered that the boat took off from Tugan Sule in Shagunu Ward with mostly women and children on board going to Dugga for condolence visit.
Confirming the incident to newsmen,the Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Abdullahi Baba Arah, said.
“We received a report of boat mishap incident at a community called Gausawa in Malale area/ward of Borgu local government area.
According to our Desk Officer who leads the ‘search and rescue’ operations, the boat took off from a community called Tugan Sule in Shagunu Ward with 90 people on board which included women and children on the boat heading to Dugga for condolence visit,” he said.
He explained that the mishap was attributed to overloading and collision with a tree stump underneath the water while confirming also that the passengers did not wear life jacket despite government’s stand on such practice in the state.
Arah said 29 bodies have been recovered with 50 persons rescued alive while 2 other people were still missing.
The Director General said ‘search and rescue’ operations were still ongoing for possible recovery of missing persons.
