41 feared dead in Zamfara boat accident

Forty-one people are feared dead following a boat accident in Gummi town, the headquarters of Gummi Local Government Area in Zamfara State.

An eyewitness, Abubakar Muhammad, who is an indigene of the town, revealed that the accident occurred early Saturday morning as the boat was transporting farmers to their fields, according to The PUNCH newspaper.

Muhammad reportedly said that the boat capsized with 53 people onboard, and only 12 individuals, including the boat’s captain, were rescued alive.

According to the eyewitness, when the boat capsized this morning, it sank into the river with all the passengers.

He added that efforts were made to rescue the passengers but “we were only able to bring out 12 persons alive, including the captain of the boat. The bodies of the other 41 passengers were evacuated out of the water.”

Confirming the incident, Alhaji Na’Allah Musa, the Sole Administrator of Gummi Local Government Area, said the boat was overloaded.

He explained that the captain of the boat told the passengers that some of them must disembark, but they all refused to listen, adding that the boat capsized and sank into the river due to overloading.

He said, “ Only four of the passengers were able to swim out, while rescue operators managed to save others. There are many casualties, but I can’t say exactly how many have died yet as we are still searching for missing passengers.”