Amid criticism over the safety standards on Nigerian waterways, the death toll from the boat mishap along the Malale riverfront in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State has risen to 60.
As gathered, the boat was conveying 90 passengers from Tugan Sule in Shagunu ward of Borgu LGA en route to Dugga for a condolence visit when the mishap occurred.
The chairman of Borgu LGA, Abdullahi Ara, disclosed the death toll to newsmen yesterday amid ongoing search and rescue operations in the council.
He said: “The death toll of the boat incident has risen to 60. This is after 10 people were rescued from the lagoon with severe injuries.
While disclosing that some passengers were still missing, the council boss explained that the tragedy occurred at about 11 a.m.
The district head of Shagumi, Sa’adu Muhammad, who was said to have been at the scene when the tragedy occurred, said: “I was at the scene yesterday around 12 p.m. until 4 p.m. The boat carried more than 100 people,” Muhammad said. “We were able to recover 31 corpses from the river. The boat was also recovered and removed.”
He added that four victims were buried on Tuesday in accordance with Islamic rites, and that women and children made up the majority of the deceased.
Earlier, the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) disclosed that 29 bodies were recovered from the lagoon by the rescue team.
“NSEMA has received a report of a boat mishap incident at a community called Gausawa in Malale area/ward of Borgu LGA. According to our desk officer who led the search and rescue operations, the boat took off from a community called Tugan Sule in Shagunu ward with 90 people on board, which included women and children on the boat heading to Dugga for a condolence visit.
