After the capsize of a boat carrying 104 people in Taraba State, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said that seventeen bodies had been recovered by rescue workers while 12 persons have also been rescued.
Over 100 people, mostly local traders, including women and children, were on the boat when it capsized on Saturday when they were traveling from the Mayorenero fish market in Ardo, Kola Local Government, to Binnari, Karim, Lamido Local Government, both in Taraba State.
Bashir Garga, NEMA’s Director of Emergency Services while speaking to BBC Hausa on Monday said that rescue search are still going.
The boat capsized in the Benue River.
Some of the victims have been buried by the riverside at Mayoreneyo and Binnari.
The acting chairman of inland water transporters in Taraba, Jidda Mayoreneyo, told Daily Trust that six of the victims were buried yesterday in Mayoreneyo.
He said the families of the victims have granted the association approval to bury them.
He added that other victims were buried at Binnari where the boat capsized on Saturday.
Jidda stated further that four more bodies recovered were buried at the riverside after approval was granted by their families.
Saidu Audu, a resident, said he was at the local jetty when the boat left Mayoreneyo with many people and a heavy load.
“Apart from people inside the boat, there were new motorcycles, bags of cement, bundles of sugarcane, and other items,” he said.
Ada Peter
