Over 30 feared dead as boat capsizes with more than 100 passengers in Benue

More than 30 people are feared trapped underwater following a boat mishap at the Buruku crossing point of River Katsina-Ala in Benue State.

The incident occurred three days ago when a wooden canoe carrying passengers and motorcycles capsized while crossing the river.

The Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) said the ongoing operation at the scene could no longer strictly be described as a rescue mission because of the length of time the victims had remained underwater.

The wooden canoe reportedly capsized around midday last Saturday while ferrying more than 100 people across the river, leaving several passengers and motorcycles trapped underwater.

The Head of Information Unit of SEMA, Tema Ager, said two additional bodies were recovered from the river on Sunday during an assessment of the accident scene.

He disclosed that 38 motorcycles also went into the river with the canoe, with each motorcycle reportedly carrying three people.

According to Ager, the agency was working to establish the actual number of people involved by tracing the passengers who travelled on the motorcycles.

He said most of the victims were mourners returning from a burial and that SEMA had been gathering information from surviving motorcycle riders to determine who had boarded the ill-fated boat.

“The ongoing operation can no longer be called rescue because anybody you find underwater now after three days is a dead person. Yesterday (Sunday), on the spot when we went there, two bodies were discovered,” Ager said.

He added that efforts were also ongoing to recover the motorcycles that sank at the accident site.

“They had 38 motorcycles that sank in one place. The canoe association members were trying to remove them. They have been able to remove 10 motorcycles, remaining 28,” he said.

Number of Passengers Remains Unclear

Ager said it remained difficult to establish the exact number of passengers on the boat because not everyone who boarded the vessel was formally recorded.

He explained that the 38 motorcycles involved in the incident were each carrying three people, meaning at least 114 people were associated with the motorcycles.

“The 38 motorcycles involved were carrying three people each. If you put that number together, you will have not less than 114 people,” he said.

However, he stressed that the actual number of people on board could be higher because some mourners travelled independently to the burial and joined the boat at the riverbank on their way back.

“You have to remember they were mourners who were coming back from a burial. We took a statistic of every rider. All the riders were alive. So we asked them, ‘Who and who did you carry?’ They were able to identify those they carried. So those whom they could not identify were taken that they were missing underwater,” Ager said.

He said the presence of other people waiting at the riverbank further complicated efforts to determine the number of passengers.

“But you know that other people are also always at the water banks waiting for opportunity to cross. So those of them and those others who attended the burial on their own also joined in the boat.

“We cannot give account of those ones. So it is likely that 30-something people are still underwater there. So they are still searching for them,” he said.

Boat Reportedly on Maiden Journey

Ager further disclosed that the ill-fated canoe was newly built and was reportedly making its maiden journey when the accident occurred.

He attributed the mishap partly to overloading, noting that the boat was carrying both passengers and motorcycles.

The SEMA official urged river transport operators to reduce the number of passengers and quantity of goods ferried at a time.

He also called for strict adherence to the use of life jackets, saying personal flotation devices could significantly reduce fatalities in boat accidents.

“So we advise them strongly to be using life jackets when they are ferrying people across the river,” Ager said.

On measures to prevent a recurrence, he said government could continue sensitising riverine communities on safety practices but acknowledged that enforcing safety regulations remained difficult without a dedicated enforcement mechanism.

“So we say they should minimise the loading of boats. And they should always use life jackets. But you know you can give advice to those people. But you cannot force them to do it. Maybe except you have an enforcement team,” he said.

Ager added that life jackets had previously been supplied to boat operators by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and SEMA, but the safety equipment was apparently not being used.

Search and recovery efforts were continuing at the river crossing as authorities worked to determine the full extent of the tragedy.