No fewer than 11 persons, including a pregnant woman and six children, have reportedly lost their lives in a boat accident in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State.
The tragic incident occurred on Saturday evening between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. as the victims were returning to Daududawada community from Wadata amid a heavy rainstorm that swept through parts of the state capital.
A local vigilante commander, Nura Umar, who heads Operation Shara (Sweep) in the North Bank area, said the victims were among mourners travelling back to their riverine community after attending a burial ceremony.
According to Umar, the deceased included a pregnant woman, six children and four other adults.
He explained that the mourners had earlier accompanied the remains of a woman from Daududawada community to Wadata for burial after she died at a private hospital in the North Bank area where she had been receiving treatment.
Speaking on the incident, Umar said the group opted to travel by boat because it provided a shorter route back to the island community than travelling by road.
He said the boat, carrying more than 40 passengers, ran into trouble after a downpour accompanied by strong winds struck while the vessel was midway across the river.
“The rain became intense and strong winds followed, causing the boat to capsize,” he said.
Umar disclosed that four bodies had been recovered and buried, while search efforts were ongoing for the remaining seven victims believed to have drowned.
He also recounted the ordeal of a woman who survived the accident but lost her baby during the struggle to stay afloat.
According to him, the woman had strapped the child to her back while travelling.
However, amid the panic and efforts to swim to safety after the boat overturned, she lost grip of the baby.
Although the child was later found, the infant could not be revived after reportedly swallowing a large volume of water.
As of Sunday, local divers and volunteers were continuing rescue and recovery operations, while grief-stricken residents of Daududawada community mourned the victims.
Efforts to obtain official confirmation from the Benue State Police Command were unsuccessful, as the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Udeme Edet, neither answered calls nor responded to a text message sent to her phone as of the time of filing this report.