Nigeria boat sinking kills at least 51, resident says

At least 51 people have died after a boat sank in northwest Nigeria's Sokoto state on Thursday, Ibrahim Musa, a former councillor in the area, said, while authorities said rescue operations were continuing.

Musa, a former councillor of Gorau village in Goronyo district, said 46 bodies had already been buried and five more had been brought out of the river. “The situation is bad,” he said.

Ilyasu Adamu, a local farmer, said the boat was “obviously overloaded” and sank about a minute after starting its journey. He said the passengers were heading to farms on the other side of the river, and that most were women and children. Adamu gave a toll of at least 48 deaths.

Dahir Kure, spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency in Sokoto state, said rescue workers were at the scene and had begun operations. He said authorities could not immediately give a toll because they were still collecting information.

Boat accidents are common on Nigeria's rivers and waterways, where they are often linked to overloaded boats, poor maintenance or breaches of safety rules. At least five people drowned when a boat capsized in Jigawa state last month. In January, at least 26 people drowned when a boat carrying farmers and fishermen from Jigawa to Yobe state capsized.