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Nigeria boat crash leaves dozens dead in River Niger

Residents and a local official said that dozens of people are believed to be dead after a boat capsized in northern Nigeria carrying mostly women, children and returning from a religious event.

Abdullahi Baba Arah is the head of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency. He said that the accident occurred around 8:30 pm (1930 GMT), on Tuesday, when the wooden boat with almost 300 passengers went down in the River Niger.

He added that rescue workers and volunteers in rural Mokwa, Niger's local government area, had rescued 150 individuals.

In a press release, Arah stated that the search and rescue operations are still underway to find more survivors.

Ismaila Umar who heads an association of boat skippers in Mokwa said that the chances of finding survivors are slim.

It is the second major boating accident to have occurred in Niger in the last 18 months, after another boating accident that killed more than 100 people.

Most boat accidents in Nigeria are caused by overcrowding, poor maintenance and lack of safety measures. Reporting by Garba Mohammed in Kaduna, and Ahmed Kingimi at Maiduguri; writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe with editing by Barbara Lewis.

(source: Reuters)