Forty-one individuals are feared lifeless in a ship accident in Gummi city, the headquarters of Gummi Native Authorities Space of Zamfara State.
An eyewitness, who’s an indigene of the city, Abubakar Muhammad, informed PUNCH On-line that the deceased had been going to their farms within the early hours of Saturday when the boat capsized.
Mohammed mentioned there have been 53 farmers within the boat, and solely 12 had been rescued alive, together with the captain of the boat, and the remaining 41 had been lifeless.
He mentioned, “When the boat capsized at this time, Saturday morning, I used to be a type of who had been current close to the river near Gummi city.
“Instantly, the boat capsized. It sunk into the river with all of the passengers.
“We did our greatest to rescue them, however sadly, we had been solely capable of deliver out 12 individuals alive, together with the captain of the boat.
“The our bodies of the opposite 41 passengers had been evacuated out of the water.”
Confirming the accident to PUNCH On-line on the phone, the Sole Administrator, Gummi Native Authorities Space, Alhaji Na’Allah Musa, mentioned the boat was overloaded.
In accordance with him, the captain of the boat informed the passengers that a few of them should come down, however all of them refused to pay attention.
He mentioned, “There have been many individuals on the boat, and the captain did all he may to cut back the quantity, however no one needed to be left behind.
“When he did all he may to cut back the quantity however failed, he was left with no possibility however to begin going.
“As he moved ahead, the boat capsized and sunk into the river resulting from overloading.
“Solely 4 of the passengers had been capable of swim out of the river, whereas the rescue operators had been capable of save others.
“There have been many casualties, however truly I can’t say precisely what number of of them have died as a result of we’re nonetheless searching for different lacking passengers.”
