41 killed, 12 rescued after boat capsizes in NW Nigeria

ABUJA | Xinhua |  At least 41 bodies were recovered, and 12 others rescued after a wooden boat capsized in Nigeria’s northwestern state of Zamfara, local authorities said on Sunday.

The boat carrying more than 50 passengers and crew capsized on a river near Gummi, a town in the Gummi local government area of Zamfara, shortly after leaving the shore on Saturday, Suleiman Gummi, a national legislator representing the Gummi-Bukkuyum constituency in Nigeria’s Federal House of Representatives, told reporters on Sunday.

The passengers were farmers who travel daily by boat to their farmlands in neighboring communities, Gummi said. Local authorities swiftly deployed personnel to the incident scene, including local divers, who pulled out at least a dozen survivors.

In an interview with local media, Hassan Daura, head of the Zamfara State Emergency Management Agency, said mostly women and children were killed in the incident.

Boat accidents are frequently reported in the West African country and are often attributed to factors such as overloading, adverse weather conditions, and operational errors. ■