The governor of Anambra state, Charles Soludo, yesterday ordered a search operation following the report that about 30 people were missing in a boat mishap at Umunnankwo community in Anambra State’s riverine Ogbaru local government area over the weekend.
According to the chairman of the local government’s transition committee, Hon. Pascal Aniegbuna, the incident occurred on Friday.
The ill-fated boat, which was carrying about 85 people, was claimed to have taken off from Onukwu Bridge and was travelling to the Nkwo market in Ogbakuba before it capsized, and between 20 and 30 people were said to be missing at the time of filing this report.
According to local sources, while some of the passengers were rescued, several others were not, but the exact number of those rescued and dead had not been established by yesterday.
A former House of Representatives member for Ogbaru federal constituency, Hon. Victor Afam Ogene, in a reaction expressed shock and sorrow over the incident.
Ogene, who is the Labour Party 2023 House of Representatives candidate for Ogbaru Federal Constituency, said Ogbaru was devastated, adding; “This sad news is painful to me as a person and devastating, especially to the immediate families of the victims. This is a collective loss for Ogbaru as a whole and we are united in sorrow.
“My condolences go to the affected families and also Ogbahu people and communities, who have in recent times found themselves in the jaws of severe flood disaster that has practically submerged all our communities
