Overloaded boat capsizes in Nigeria, at least 40 bodies recovered

More than 40 bodies, mostly belonging to children, have been recovered following the capsizing of a boat that was overcrowded with passengers in the northwestern Nigerian state of Sokoto, according to officials and witnesses on Thursday.

The boat overturned near the town of Gorau in the local government area of Goronyo and the search is ongoing, Abdulkadir Yusuf, area manager at the National Inland Waterways Authority, was quoted saying.

Yusuf added that about 40 children bodies have been recovered, while Nasiru Adamu, a legislator from the area in the state assembly of Sokoto, said the death toll had risen to 43, with 16 survivors.

According to one resident, the boat had been transporting farm owners and laborers who had been hired to pluck rice and there were more than 70 people traveling in it when it overturned, while another local said there were 57 people on board.

Mustapha Umar, director of relief and rehabilitation at the state's emergency management agency, said authorities were rushing to the site of the disaster and would provide further details.

Frequent boat tragedies happen in Nigeria, where overcrowding, poor upkeep of boats and lack of enforcing regulations cause many accidents in Nigerian waterways and rivers.

Earlier this year, in January, at least 25 people died when a leaking boat overturned in northeast Nigeria, in Yobe State.