More than 40 people have been missing since a boat capsized in Nigeria’s state of Sokoto, according to authorities, and rescuers are looking for them.
The Sokoto operations office of Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) announced on Sunday that a response team had been set up to assist rescue efforts following the “tragic boat mishap.”
Zubaida Umar, director general of NEMA, stated that the company responded to “receiving reports that a boat carrying more than 50 passengers to Goronyo Market had capsized.”
About 10 people had been rescued, according to a statement released on social media by NEMA, and more than 40 others had vanished.
According to a local official, the accident may have been caused by overloading, a problem that boats in the state’s riverine communities frequently encounter.
Rivers and lakes in Nigeria frequently overflow during the annual rainy season, which runs from March to October.
In Sokoto State, at least 16 farmers perished in a similar accident in August 2024 when a wooden canoe that was used to transport them from one river to their rice fields capsized.
A boat carrying about 100 passengers capsized in Niger State, in north-central Nigeria, killing at least 13 people and making numerous other people go missing last month.
Source: Aljazeera
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