No fewer than six passengers and the boat captain have been reported dead after the canoe conveying them to their destination capsized midway into the sea in Sokoto State.
Eyewitnesses narrated that the mishap occurred around Gidan Hussaini and Sabon Garin Hussaini communities, following a high current recorded minutes after the canoe set sail.
They added that the passengers could have been rescued but none of the victims was wearing a life jacket, allowing them to drown after the boat mishap occurred.
Upon the incident, it was learnt that residents raised the alarm, attracting local divers and emergency rescue workers to the scene, for search and rescue operations.
As gathered, before the local divers arrival, the passengers and the boat captain had drowned and their bodies recovered hours after intense search and rescue operations on the waterways.
Following the cordoning of the riverside to prevent mourners from gathering along the river bank, local rescue personnel handed over the recovered bodies to their grieving families for burial rites.
The tragedy has, however, cast a shadow over the Gidan Hussaini and Sabon Garin Hussaini communities where the mishap occurred, with residents plunged into mourning while asking the Sokoto state government to provide better safety precautions on the community waterways.
