Aug 20 (Reuters) – An overloaded boat capsized in Nigeria’s northwest Sokoto state, with around 40 bodies of children recovered so far, a local official at the inland waterways authority said on Thursday.
“I can confirm that so far around 40 corpses of children have been recovered,” Abdulkadir Yusuf, an area manager of the National Inland Waterways Authority said in a statement to Reuters.
The accident occurred on Thursday morning when passengers were heading either to plant or to harvest rice, said Sarkin Daji, a traditional leader in the area.
“Our local divers recovered the bodies and the search is still ongoing,” local resident Nasiru Gorau said.
Deadly boat accidents are common in Nigeria, where vessels often operate unsafely. In January, at least 25 people died when a leaking boat capsized in Yobe state, northeast Nigeria.
(Reporting by Hamza Ibrahim in Kano and Ahmed Kingimi in Maiduguri;Writing by Ben Ezeamalu and Chijioke Ohuocha;Editing by Alexander Winning and Gareth Jones)
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