Friday, July 20, 2012

17 die as boat capsizes in Kwara

TRAGEDY occurred on Wednesday, as 17 persons,
mostly children and women, were reportedly
drowned while three others were still missing,
following a canoe accident on River Kaduna in Kwara
State.
Speaking to the Nigerian Tribune, a relation of one of
the victims who sought for anonymity in an
interview said the incident occurred around 11.00
a.m. on that fateful day.
The canoe, which was loaded with about 50
passengers, was coming from Patigi in Kwara State to
Nupeko village, Niger State.
According to the source, the majority of the
passengers on board were returning from a wedding
ceremony in the neighbouring village.
He noted that about 30 persons in the ill-fated canoe
were rescued and had since re-united with their
families.
The source added that seven dead bodies of children
and two women had since been recovered, adding
that search was still ongoing in the hope of
recovering more bodies.
Nigerian Tribune further gathered that one of the
deceased, identified as Abdullahi, a civil servant with the Niger State government, was said to be on official assignment.
The immediate cause of the mishap has not been
officially ascertained but it was gathered that the
canoe capsized shortly after hitting a log of wood in
the river.
Confirming the incident when contacted by the
Nigerian Tribune on Thursday, the Commissioner of
Police, Niger State police command, Mrs Desire
Diseye Nsirim, stated that the incident did not
occur within the jurisdiction of the state police
command, but in Kwara State and that all the
recovered dead bodies were taken there.
But the Police Public Relations Officer, Kwara State
police command, DSP Olufemi Fabode, said that the
command was not aware of the incident.

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