At least 25 dead and 14 missing in a river shipwreck in northeastern Nigeria

At least 25 people died, 14 remain missing, and 13 were rescued after a boat capsized in a river in northeastern Nigeria, in Yobe state, authorities confirmed on Sunday. According to the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (YOSEMA), as detailed through the social network Facebook, the incident occurred around 7:50 PM local time on Saturday (6:50 PM GMT) in the Nguru area. The boat was carrying 52 passengers traveling to Garbi, in Yobe, from the town of Adiyani, in Jigawa state (north), where the victims had been working in agriculture, fishing and other local commercial activities, YOSEMA detailed.

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“Search and rescue operations are ongoing, with security agencies, emergency personnel, and local community volunteers working tirelessly to locate the missing passengers and recover the bodies,” the agency asserted, without detailing the cause of the shipwreck. Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, offered condolences to the families of the victims and ordered that “all necessary logistical and medical support” be provided to the victims who are being treated. “I pray that more survivors are rescued and can be reunited with their families,” Buni stated, according to local media. Shipwrecks, often caused by overloading of vessels and poor regulation of water transport, are common in Nigeria, where passengers often do not wear life jackets, which exacerbates the mortality of accidents. Last September, at least 32 people died in the shipwreck of a boat on a river in the west of the country, in Niger state, while at least 25 died in another similar episode in the northwestern state of Sokoto in August.