No fewer than 40 persons, mostly women and children, were reported to have lost their lives in Badau village, Bagwai Local Government Area of Kano State following a boat accident.
An eyewitness, who confirmed the accident, said it occurred on Tuesday around 6pm.
He explained that the boat capsized in the middle of the river while conveying passengers to Bagwai town from Badau village.
“The passengers were travelling to Bagwai town to attend the annual Mulud festival. The boat capsized due to overloading, killing over 40 passengers, mostly women and children. Scores of others sustained varying degrees of injury. Only very few passengers survived the accident,” the eyewitness stated.
It was gathered that the victims drowned because they could not swim to the bank of the river and were not wearing life jackets.
Recall that in 2007 several passengers also lost their lives in a similar incident in the local government.
Efforts to contact the Chairman of the local government council, Inuwa Zangina, did not succeed as he did not take his calls.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the state fire service, Saminu Abdullahi, confirmed the accident.
He said 20 corpses had been recovered from the river, while seven persons had been rescued, adding that the rescue operation was still ongoing.
“More than 49 persons were in the boat, which was on its way to Bagwai town from Badau village, when the accident happened,” Abdullahi stated.
Via Punch
