The death toll in the boat accident that occurred in Niger State has risen to 60, while 10 passengers in the ill-fated boat have been rescued.
Earlier reports put the death toll at 29 and the number of rescued passengers at 50.

The boat said to be carrying over 100 passengers departed from Tungan Sule in Malale district on Tuesday morning, heading to Dugga for a condolence visit, when it struck a submerged tree stump near Gausawa community in Borgu Local Government Area and capsized.

Local officials on Wednesday, according to Reuters, said the death toll in the incident which occurred around 11 a.m. Tuesday, had risen to 60 with many still missing.

“The death toll of the boat incident has risen to 60,” a top official of Borgu Local Government Area, said. “10 people have been found in serious condition and many are still being sought.”

Also, the district head of Shagumi, Sa’adu Inuwa Muhammad, who was at the scene shortly after the accident, said “I was at the scene yesterday around 12 p.m. until 4 p.m. The boat carried more than 100 people.”

Muhammad said, “We were able to recover 31 corpses from the river. The boat was also recovered and removed.”

The district head said four victims were buried on Tuesday in accordance with Islamic rites, and that women and children made up the majority of the deceased.
On July 27 this year, a similar accident occurred when a boat carrying 39 passengers from Guni to the weekly Zumba market across the River Kaduna capsized, resulting in the death of 13 passengers while 26 others were rescued.
Those that died in the accident were 8 women 3 men and 2 children.

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