Tag: Niger boat accident

•50 passengers rescued

Twenty-Nine people died in a boat assident in Malale area of Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.

Over 50 people were rescued in the incident, which occurred on Tuesday morning.

The passengers, were heading to Dugga for a condolence visit, was said to have taken off from a community called Tugan Sule in Shagunu ward with over 90 people on board, including women and children. 

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The Director-General, Niger state Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Abdullahi Baba Arah, who confirmed the incident, attributed it to overloading and collision with a tree stump.

“As at this time of filling, 29 dead bodies have been recovered, with 50 persons rescued alive while two people are still missing. Search and rescue operations are still on going for possible recovery of missing persons,” he said.

The deceased have been buried.

Sixteen persons have died with 134 still missing in a boat mishap in Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State.

This is coming barely a week after the National Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (N-HYPPADEC) distributed 33 fibreglass boats to nine states to prevent boat accidents.   The accident, it was learnt, occurred at about 8.30 pm on Independence Day on River Niger upstream Jebba dam, at Gbajibo Community in Mokwa Local Government Area.

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 The state Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) said the boat was sailing from Mundi Community with 300 passengers, mostly women and children on board, for the Maulid celebration at Gbajibo.

The NSEMA Director-General, Abdullahi Baba Arah, said the prompt response from community volunteers led to the rescue of over 150 persons, adding that search and rescue is ongoing to locate more survivors.

  He stated that NSEMA is working with the state Ministry of Transport, Mokwa Local Government Emergency Committee, local divers, and other community volunteers to rescue any survivors and recover bodies of those who are deceased.  The state government had last  week said 182 lives had been lost to boat mishaps in the past three years.