International Desk, 14 June: As many as 103 people including children were reportedly killed when a boat returning from marriage overturned in northern Nigeria on Tuesday.
According to local police, the accident took place in the Niger river in Kwara state, located 160 km from Ilorin city. Several people on board the boat are still missing and their rescue operations are underway, he said.
According to reports, 100 people have been rescued from the river so far.
Reportedly, most of the people on board the boat attended the wedding ceremony together and enjoyed the ceremony till late in the night. Most of the people arrived at the event in their own vehicles but had to return from the event on a boat as the route was washed away due to torrential rains.
It is learnt that there were around 300 people in the boat. There was no report of the accident for a long time as the horrific accident took place at 3am on Tuesday. However, rescue operations were started as soon as possible and 50 people were rescued.
It is noteworthy that the Niger River is known as one of the largest rivers in Nigeria. Locals call the accident the deadliest boat tragedy seen in many years.
Meanwhile, the administration has said that the rescue operation will continue till Wednesday night in search of those who are still missing in the boat tragedy.
It may be recalled that all the bodies already were recovered till Tuesday evening and have been buried as per their tradition. The office of Quara Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrajak issued a statement expressing grief over the families of the deceased, saying he “continues to monitor the rescue efforts already carried out since Tuesday night in search of potential survivors. Most of the accidents are caused due to overload and use of poorly maintained boats.”