close
Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com.
A boat capsized in north-central Nigeria early Sunday, killing at least two dozen people and leaving many others missing amid a frantic rescue effort, emergency officials said.
The victims, mostly women and children, drowned while travelling on the wooden boat in the Nigerian state of Niger in the Mokwa district.
The boat was carrying more than 100 passengers, according to Zainab Sulaiman, head of Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency in the state, suggesting that the death toll could be much higher as local divers searched for survivors.
BRITAIN TO HOUSE 500 MIGRANTS ON BARGE DOCKED OFF ENGLISH COAST
“So far, they retrieved 24 corpses … and rescued 30 people,” Sulaiman told The Associated Press.
The capsizing on the Niger River happened in the Gbajibo community, located 156 miles from Minna, the state capital.
A boat carrying more than 100 passengers capsized in north-central Nigeria early Sunday. While 30 people were rescued, 2 dozen others died in the boat disaster. (Fox News)
Boat disasters are common in many remote communities across the West African nation where locally made vessels are commonly used for transport. Most incidents are attributed to overloading amid the absence of good and accessible roads in most affected areas.
The latest victims had been resettled from the area where the Jebba dam is located and were returning to their farmlands in their former communities when their boat capsized, according to Ibrahim Audu, spokesman for the Niger State emergency services.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the boat to capsize, though Audu pointed to overloading, the condition of the boat or a hindrance of the boat’s movement along the water as possibilities.
The tragedy on happened three months after one of Nigeria’s deadliest boat disasters in recent years in which more than 100 people were killed. Most of the water and transportation reforms which authorities promised at the time haven’t been carried out.
close Video Israel confirms return, identification of Shiri Bibas' body Fox News senior foreign affairs…
Some House Republicans have felt heat back home this past week after progressive groups urged…
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth defended President Donald Trump’s firing of "woke generals" and Pentagon…
A federal judge in the District of Columbia Monday issued a temporary restraining order halting…
President Donald Trump teased a possible meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Monday, amid what…
A Virginia state delegate who compared DOGE cuts to the Holocaust was lambasted by a…