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At least 54 our bodies have now been recovered from Nigeria’s River Niger after a ship, that will have been carrying greater than 200 passengers, capsized within the early hours of Friday, the authorities say.
Twenty-four of these on board had been rescued, a few of whom are nonetheless in hospital, however dozens of others could also be lacking.
Divers are nonetheless looking the waters however hope is fading on the opportunity of discovering extra survivors.
This is simply the most recent in a protracted collection of boat accidents on the nation’s inland waterways. Despite security suggestions being made, guidelines are hardly ever adopted and few are held accountable.
The boat was travelling from Kogi state, central Nigeria, to a weekly market in neighbouring Niger state when it went down.
Market merchants and farm labourers had been thought to have been among the many passengers.
The reason behind the accident just isn’t but identified however there are indications that most of the travellers might not have been sporting life jackets as required.
Getting correct particulars about who precisely had boarded the boat is troublesome as a result of there was no document maintaining, the native official in cost instructed the BBC.
“The problem is that there’s no passenger manifest and because of the time the accident occurred, giving an accurate account of persons, survivors and those missing, is very difficult,” Justin Uche, who’s head of the Kogi state workplace of the National Emergency Management Agency stated.
Meanwhile Kogi state’s governor Usman Ododo ordered all hospitals the place survivors are receiving therapy to make sure that they get enough care together with meals.
He additionally urged stricter enforcement of security laws to make sure that such incidents are prevented in future.
This is the third time a passenger boat has gone down in Nigeria within the final 60 days.
Last month, a picket dugout canoe, full of almost 300 passengers, overturned and sank in the middle of the River Niger killing almost 200 folks.
Just final week, 5 folks died when two boats collided in southern Nigeria’s Delta state.
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