A tragic boat mishap has occurred in the Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State, with no fewer than 29 persons initially feared dead and several others missing. The incident involved a boat carrying 90 persons, mostly women and children, which departed from Tungan Sule in Shagunu Ward. The vessel encountered problems and capsized at Gausawa while en route to Dugga for a condolence visit.

Confirming the initial incident, Abdullahi Baba Arah, the Director General of theNiger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), reported that the mishap was attributed to overloading and a collision with a submerged tree stump. He further noted that the passengers were not wearing life jackets, despite state regulations. At the time of this initial report, 29 bodies had been recovered, 50 persons were rescued alive, and two individuals were still missing, with search and rescue operations ongoing.

Photo Credit: Vanguard News

Subsequent reports revealed a grim increase in the casualty count. The death toll from the boat accident tragically rose to 60. The ill-fated boat, now estimated to have been carrying over 100 passengers, struck a submerged tree stump near the Gausawa community in Borgu Local Government Area around 11 a.m. on Tuesday. Local officials on Wednesday confirmed the updated figures, stating that only 10 passengers had been rescued alive, with many more still unaccounted for.

The district head of Shagumi, Sa’adu Inuwa Muhammad, present at the scene, corroborated that the boat carried more than 100 people and stated that 31 corpses had been recovered from the river, along with the boat itself. He also highlighted that women and children constituted the majority of the deceased, with four victims buried on Tuesday according to Islamic rites.

Search and rescue operations persist as authorities continue efforts to locate and recover the remaining missing persons. This incident tragically echoes a similar accident that occurred on July 27 earlier this year, when a boat transporting 39 passengers from Guni to the weekly Zumba market across the River Kaduna capsized. That earlier incident resulted in the deaths of 13 passengers—8 women, 3 men, and 2 children—while 26 others were rescued.