Tragedy again struck at the weekend when a boat with about 80
passengers on board capsized in Kokoli village, near Malali in the Borgu
Local Government Area of Niger State where a similar fatal accident
occurred a week ago.
The latest accident claimed no fewer than 18 lives. The Malali accident claimed 26 lives.
The boat was said to be conveying people from the weekly Thursday market
from Kokoli to Ulakami at about 4pm when tragedy struck.
The boat was said to have broken into two under the pressure of both the passengers and the load, throwing all into the river.
A survivor, Umar Ibrahim who spoke to newsmen said they were in the
middle of the 10 kilometers journey when the boat they were in split
throwing all the passengers into the river.
“We had just got to the middle of the journey when the boat split into
two, people started screaming and falling into the water.”
Ibrahim stated that he was able to rescue about 10 people all whom were
women and children believing that the men could take care of themselves.
“But for the assistance in the rescue efforts, the casualty rate would have been higher.”
Umar said some of the passengers were able to swim to safety, which
reduced the number of casualty, adding that captains of other boats
around also assisted.
He said but for his efforts and those of others, it would have been a
disaster of no mean magnitude, stressing that he was not sure he too
would have survived it because the bank of the river was far away from
where the accident occurred.
Mohammed Garba, Village Head of Malali confirmed that after the
incident, he went round to find out how many people were missing while
it was also discovered that 18 people were dead.
The villagers attributed the frequent accidents on the river to failure
of the people of the area to offer the yearly sacrifice to the river,
while some were believed the boat was too old and not maintained.
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