Boat accident in Mokwa Niger claims six lives, five missing

Six people have been confirmed dead and five others declared missing after a boat capsized weekend in the Gbara area of Mokwa Local Government Area in Niger State.

A  statement on Saturday by the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) revealed the tragic incident.

It said the incident occurred on Friday evening when the boat, which was conveying 48 passengers, was returning from Danchitagi village market in Lavun LGA to Gbara village.

NSEMA attributed the incident to heavy downpour which was accompanied by windstorm.

The statement read in part, “NSEMA has received a report of boat mishap that occurred yesterday evening around 6:30pm at Gbara area of Mokwa LGA (River Kaduna).

“The boat, which took off from Lanchikagi village of Lavun LGA, was heading to Gbara village. There were 48 passengers on board and they were said to be returning from Danchitagi village market (Lavun LGA) which comes up every Friday.

“As at the time of filing this report, 37 persons survived, 6 dead bodies were recovered and five persons still missing.

“The cause of the incident was as a result of heavy downpour which was accompanied by violent windstorm. Meanwhile, search and rescue operations are still ongoing.”

Niger like many other states in Nigeria has experienced flooding causing havoc in recent weeks.

Days ago, 18 persons were confirmed to have been killed across LGAs in the state as a result of flood.

A total of 49,953 persons were also said to have been affected across 15 internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in the state.