No fewer than 42 people were yesterday
drowned in a boat mishap on River Niger close
to Malilli village in Borgu Local Government Area
of Niger when traders were returning from Malilli
Village to Tunga Illo village, after the day's
market.
The boat which had over 150 passengers
capsized midway and drowned 42 people, while
100 others were missing. Local divers helped in
recovering the corpses and are still looking for
more. The Secretary to the State Government
who confirmed the incident said; ''We believe
that the boat was overloaded 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''
The recovered corpses would be given a mass
burial close to the river bank, and neighboring
villages have also been alerted to look out for
floating corpses.
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