A joyous celebration suddenly turned to tragedy when an overloaded wood boat carrying a big wedding party capsized in a distant a part of Nigeria, killing greater than 100 people.
The accident – considered one of the worst of its kind in recent years – took place on Monday evening on the Niger River that separates the 2 neighboring states.
By Wednesday, the death toll from the disaster had risen to 106, including several children. The names of the victims haven’t been released.
Police spokesman Okasani Ajayi said no less than 144 people have been rescued in the last two days by rescue employees and residents of local villages – and he believes there should still be more survivors.
The boat was carrying people from Niger state to neighboring Kwara state after a wedding ceremony when it capsized, sending passengers into the river.
![An overloaded wooden boat carrying a wedding party capsized in a remote part of Nigeria, killing more than 100 people.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012693634.jpg?w=1024)
Local residents estimated that the ship was carrying near 300 wedding guests.
In accordance with Abdul Gan Lukpad, a neighborhood chief, most of those that drowned were relatives from several communities who attended a wedding held in the village of Egboti.
He said they’d come to the ceremony on motorbikes but were forced to go away the boat through the night after heavy rain flooded the road.
Because the locally built wood ship was sailing through the Niger River, considered one of Africa’s largest, stretching some 2,500 miles, it struck a log and broke in two, Lukpada said.
A lot of the villagers weren’t aware of the accident until several hours later, because it happened around 3am, Lukpada added.
Fearing being abducted by armed gangs on the roads, many Nigerians travel by boat to distant parts of the country.
Overcrowding and poor maintenance are liable for most boating accidents on Nigerian waterways, which will not be unusual.
Lukpada called on the authorities to repair the roads in the district so that individuals don’t all the time use water transport.
“If our roads had been good, this would not have happened,” he said.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu ordered officials to offer immediate assistance to survivors and families of capsize victims.
![As the locally built wooden ship sailed through the Niger River, one of Africa's largest, stretching for about 2,500 miles, it struck a log and broke in two, said Abdul Gana Lukpada, the local chief of Egboit village.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012693633.jpg?w=1024)
“The incontrovertible fact that the victims were guests on the wedding ceremony made the mishap all of the more painful,” he said, in keeping with an announcement issued by the president’s office.
“President Tinubu has promised that his administration will look into the challenges of inland waterway transport in the country to make sure strict adherence to questions of safety and operational standards,” the statement added.
With postal wires