42 perishes, 100 missing in boat mishap

About 42 people were on
Friday drowned in a boat mishap on River Niger close to Malilli village in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger.
100 others on board were missing in the
mishap which occurred at about 2 pm.
The Public Relation Officer, Niger State Emergency Management Agency Malam Ibrahim Hussaini, confirm the incident to
NAN in a telephone interview on Saturday.
Hassaini said the incident occurred around 2 pm when the traders were returning from Malili village backto
Tunga Illo village across the River Niger,
after the day’s market.
He said the details were sketchy, but the
boat which had over 150 passengers
capsized midway and drowned 42 people, while 100 others were missing.
The spokesman said that local divers from Malili village had recovered 42 corpses, while efforts were being
intensified to rescue possible survivors or
the corpse of those drowned.
“At the moment search and rescue is
ongoing on the river.
“I will make the details of the incident
later, but the agency has dispatch its
officers to assist the villagers in the
rescue efforts,’’ he said.
Hassaini said the recovered corpses would be given mass burial close to the river bank, adding that neighbouring villages had been alerted to look out for floating corpses.
The Secretary to the State Government,
Alhaji Saidu Ndako, confirmed the boat mishap.
“We believe that the boat was overload because the boat’s capacity was put at 60 passengers, but over 150 passengers were said to be on board during the incident.The debris in the swollen river may also
have been responsible for the incident.(NAN)