The Nigerian government has declared 156 people missing in a boat mishap Wednesday in northwestern Kebbi state.
Yusuf
Birma, area manager of government agency the National Inland Waterways
Authority (NIWA), said a rescue operation is still underway but added
that four people have been confirmed dead and 20 rescued.
“The
boat was carrying 180 passengers with 30 Bajaj motorcycles. The victims
were going to a market in Malele in the Borgu local government area of
Niger state from Kebbi, and the incident happened just one hour into
their trip,” said Birma.
“We are still rescuing the victims. The
mishap occurred as a result of overloading. The boat’s capacity is not
up to the 180 passengers it carried. As we speak, only 20 people have
been rescued alive, and four dead have been confirmed, while the
remaining 156 people are still missing and they are believed to be
underwater,” he told reporters.
Birma noted that the boat was old and weak.
“The
boat involved is a wooden boat which is old and very weak. But these
people will not listen when we advise them to reduce the number of
passengers they are carrying with the boat,” he added.
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