Overloaded boat capsizes on Niger State river, toll uncertain

A heavily overloaded passenger boat capsized on a river in Niger State on Tuesday, Sept. 2, killing an uncertain number of people and leaving dozens more injured or missing, officials said. The wooden vessel, carrying between about 90 and more than 100 passengers, overturned after striking a submerged tree stump near the Gausawa community on the Malale riverfront in Borgu Local Government Area as it traveled from Tungan Sule toward Dugga for a condolence visit.

Accounts of the death toll varied as rescue teams worked through Wednesday. The Niger State Emergency Management Agency told a local paper that 29 bodies had been recovered and 50 people rescued, with two still missing. A separate statement attributed to the agency’s director general, Abdullahi Baba Ara, quoted by an international news agency, said the toll had risen to 60 and that 10 survivors were in serious condition. Another federal emergency official, Hussaini Isah of the National Emergency Management Agency, told the Associated Press that at least 31 people had been killed and that 50 had been rescued so far. Search and rescue operations were ongoing.

Local leaders and officials at the scene said most of the victims...