20 die as boat capsizes with 47 pupils, others in Kano

The boat, with 47 passengers on board, reportedly capsized while ferrying some adults and pupils of Madinatu Islamiyya School from Badau village heading to Bagwai to participate in Maulud celebration marking the birth of Prophet Mohammed SAW.

The spokesman for the Kano State Fire Service, Malam Saminu Abdullahi, while confirming the accident at about 9:15pm, said 20 bodies had been recovered while the rescue operation was ongoing.

He said only seven persons were rescued while the remains of those that died had been deposited in a hospital.

Details about the incident were still sketchy as of press time but sources said poor visibility was affecting the rescue operation.

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Daily Trust recalled that there was a similar incident in 2008 during which 24 passengers died when a boat capsized in the same Badau village during a wedding ceremony.

Bagwai is about 50 kilometres from Kano, the state capital and hosts one of the biggest dams in the state.

Boat mishaps are becoming rampant of recent. The police on November 20 confirmed that seven girls drowned after a boat they were rowing across a river in Jigawa State capsized.

Ten girls, aged between 10 and 12, were heading home late at night when the accident occurred.

“Three of them were rescued while seven others reportedly died,” the police spokesman in Jigawa, Mohammed Lawan Shiisu, said in a statement.

“The girls, who were anxious to get home at 12:15 am decided to row a boat they found at the bank of the river on their own without a skipper,” Shiisu added.

Also, Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi said no fewer than 97 bodies were recovered from the boat mishap which occurred on May 27 at Warrah, Ngaski Local Government Area of the state.

Bagudu stated this in Birnin Kebbi when he received a delegation of members of the House of Representatives on a condolence visit to the people and government of Kebbi over the incident.

The boat from Lokon Minna in Niger State conveying more than 160 persons including artisanal miners and other passengers, capsized at Warrah, Ngaski.

Daily Trust