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What is meant to become a routine river crossing turns into a terrible tragedy on Saturday, when a passenger ship is upside down in the Shiroro Regional Government in Niger state, killing 13 people and dozens again in trouble.
The wooden boat, which has a bad fate, brought 39 passengers, reportedly departing from Zangoro Bassa Village on the way to Gijiwa in the Many Regional Government area. Most passengers are traders and residents to the local market when the disaster hit the middle.
On Sunday night, the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) confirmed that 26 people had been rescued -lives, while 13 deaths had been recorded.
According to the agency update, eight people died were women, three men, and two children. All corpses that have been restored since then have been buried in accordance with local customs.
Although the exact cause of the accident is still being investigated, the initial report shows that the ship may be overloaded and does not have important safety equipment such as a float jacket. The river was also said to be turbulent at that time due to this new rain and a water surface increase – factors that might contribute to ships that lost balance and inverted.
Local divers and community volunteers play an important role in rescue operations, which lasted several hours. Witnesses said the currents quickly made the recovery efforts difficult, because passengers struggled to survive.
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Shiroro’s axis became famous for frequent ship accidents, mostly associated with bad regulations, density, and lack of safety supervision. Many residents in this region rely on waterways as their main means of transportation due to lack of accessible roads, especially during the rainy season when river trips become more dangerous.
In a statement issued by NSEMA, the agency calls for urgent intervention by related authorities to enforce safety regulations, provide safer alternative transportation, and train local ship operators. “This tragic incident is a reminder of an urgent need for upholding river transportation regulations that are tighter and community sensitivity to water safety,” the agency said.
