27 people have died after a passenger boat capsized in the Niger River in northern Nigeria. Hundreds more are missing. Most of them are women. It is known that there were about two hundred passengers on that boat. News AFP
Niger State Emergency Management Agency spokesman Ibrahim Audu told AFP the boat capsized on its way from Kogi state to a market in neighboring Niger state.
Kogi state emergency services spokeswoman Sandra Musa said rescuers recovered 27 bodies from the river on Friday evening local time. Divers are still searching for the missing. He said that no one was found alive after 12 hours of operation.
Authorities, however, could not say for sure what caused the boat to sink. However, local media reported that the boat sank due to carrying more passengers than its capacity.
