The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said seventeen bodies were recovered by rescue operators after a boat carrying 104 persons capsized in Taraba State. Also 12 persons have been rescued.
The boat capsized on Saturday with over 100 people mostly local traders including women and children returning from the Mayorenero fish market in Ardo – Kola Local Government en route to Binnari in Karim – Lamido Local Government all in Taraba State.
Speaking to BBC Hausa on Monday, the Director of Emergency Services at NEMA, Bashir Garga, said rescue operations are still ongoing.
The boat capsized in the Benue River. Some of the victims have been buried by the riverside at Mayoreneyo and Binnari.
The acting chairman of inland water transporters in Taraba, Jidda Mayoreneyo, told Newsdirect that six of the victims were buried yesterday in Mayoreneyo.
He said the families of the victims have granted the association approval to bury them. He added that other victims were buried at Binnari where the boat capsized on Saturday. Jidda stated further that four more bodies recovered were buried at the riverside after approval was granted by their families.
Saidu Audu, a resident, said he was at the local jetty when the boat left Mayoreneyo with many people and a heavy load. “Apart from people inside the boat, there were new motorcycles, bags of cement, bundles of sugarcane, and other items,” he said.
Another resident, Dauda, told Newsdirect that boat operators usually overload their boats with passengers and load, and there is no government agency to regulate their operation. It is difficult to give the actual number of casualties and those who survived because there was no record of the actual number of passengers on board.
