No fewer than 42 people were yesterday drowned in a boat mishap on River
Niger close to Malilli village in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger
when traders were returning from Malilli Village to Tunga Illo village,
after the day’s market.
The boat which had over 150 passengers capsized midway and drowned 42
people, while 100 others were missing. Local divers helped in recovering
the corpses and are still looking for more. The Secretary to the State
Government who confirmed the incident said; ''We believe that the boat
was overloaded because the boat’s capacity was put at 60 passengers, but
over 150 passengers were said to be on board during the incident. The
debris in the swollen river may also have been responsible for the
incident''
The recovered corpses would be given a mass burial close to the river
bank, and neighboring villages have also been alerted to look out for
floating corpses.
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