Overloading in Nigeria led to boat sinking in river, more than 150 people missing, relief and rescue operations going on

Over 150 people went missing after a boat capsized in the Niger River flowing in Nigeria. This incident happened on Wednesday at local time in Kebbi State of the country. The Nigerian government has declared 156 people missing. It has been told that this accident happened due to over-riding people in the boat. At the same time, the government has declared four people dead in this accident, while 20 people have been evacuated from the river safely. Right now the work of relief and rescue is going on.

According to Anadolu news agency, the area manager of the government agency 'National Inland Waterways Authority' (NIWA) Yusuf Birma said that the team is engaged in relief and rescue work, but four people have died in this accident. At the same time, 20 people have been rescued. Birma said that the boat was carrying 180 passengers and 30 Bajaj motorcycles. The victims of this accident were going to a market located in Malele of Borgu local government area from KB state. He said that this incident happened one hour after the journey started.

The boat was old and weak, so the accident happened

According to Yusuf Birma, the boat overturning incident occurred due to overloading. He told that the boat was old and weak, due to which it gave a feast to this terrible accident. Birma said that we are still working to save the victims. The accident occurred due to overloading. The capacity of the boat is not up to 180 passengers. He said that so far 20 people have been saved alive, while the death of four people has been confirmed. At the same time, 156 people are still missing, who are believed to be still under the river.

People were advised not to travel

Birma said that this wooden boat was old and very weak. When we told these people that this boat is not safe to travel, they ignored our point. We said that this boat is over-capacity, so people should avoid traveling on it. But they did the opposite. Please tell that the Niger River flowing in Nigeria acts as a lifeline for the people of the country. Many big cities of Nigeria are inhabited on the banks of this river. Apart from this, a large number of people travel from one place to another through this river.