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No fewer than 30 persons reportedly drowned as the boat carrying over 50 passengers capsized in Yauri Local Government Area of Kebbi State, on Monday.
Confirming the ugly development to the Voice of America through telephone, the Chairman of Yauri LGA, Bala Yauri, said the incident has left the people of the local government in deep sorrow.
He said efforts are in top gear by local divers to locate the corpses of the passengers who drowned in the river.
“From the information I gathered, more than fifty persons were involved in the accident while some of them escaped but as of now that I am talking to you, over thirty of them as still trapped in the river.
“We have mobilised the local divers to try and locate bodies of the victims for proper evacuation and possibly befitting burials in accordance with Islamic rights.
“The boat as I heard carried passengers who are mostly traders from either Niger State or Kebbi State alongside foodstuffs for sell before the unfortunate incident”
Also speaking, a witness of the incident, Alhaji Sani Yauri, confirmed that the accident was caused by a heavy wind which resulted in the driver losing control of the boat.
“I was there when the incident happened, it was as a result of heavy wind which resulted in the driver of the boat losing control and it capsized immediately ”
Meanwhile, efforts to speak with the spokesman of the Nigerian Police Force in the state, DSP Nafiu Abubakar, was not successful as he neither responded to calls nor responded to text messages sent to him at the time of filling this report.