Boat Capsizes In Kwara, At Least 100 Killed

At least 100 people were killed when a boat returning from a wedding in northern Nigeria capsized on the Niger river.

Police spokesman Okasanmi Ajayi disclosed that the local residents and police are working together to find survivors. There were a total of 300 people on the boat, which was crossing the Niger River in the state of Kwara close to neighboring Niger state.

"What we gathered was there was a boat that capsized and about 100 people died," the spokesperson confirmed, NBCNews reported.

A resident named Usman Ibrahim said that the victims also included women and children. "People in the boat were to take their bikes to their various communities (upon disembarking). The boat was carrying more than 100 people when it sank," Ibrahim added.

He shared that the incident took place around 3:00 a.m. and many people got to know about this after hours, as a result, "some dead bodies are still being searched (for)."

A traditional chief in Kpada located in the Patigi district of north-central Kwara State, Abdul Gana Lukpada, disclosed that the boat overturned after getting hit by a tree trunk.

"There was a marriage ceremony in a nearby village," he explained, CNN reported. "Egboti village which is by the river Niger. The terrain of the community is terrible when it rains. After the ceremony, it rained, so those who attended with motorcycles could not ride the motorcycles out of the community."

He continued, "They decided to use a big boat to convey people out of Egboti. The boat was filled with up to 300 people — both males and females from various communities. It was early on Monday between 3:00 - 4:00 am."

Lukpada further shared that the boat was hit by a tree branch in the middle of the night and it got divided into two parts. He noted that the volume of water was high which carried the passengers away.

According to him, only 53 people managed to escape and the "rest are feared dead." A local chief said that this is a "big tragedy," revealing that he also lost four of his neighbors.

This is not the first time when people died in Nigeria because of a boat accident.

Last month, at least 15 people were drowned after a boat capsized and 21 people were rescued from that incident. A police spokesman, Sanusi Abubakar said at that time, out of 15 people who drowned, 13 were females.