More than 30 people are feared trapped underwater following a boat mishap at the Buruku crossing point of River Katsina-Ala in Benue State, three days after a wooden canoe capsized while ferrying passengers across the river.
The wooden canoe, reportedly carrying more than 100 people and 38 motorcycles, capsized around midday on Saturday, October 3, while crossing the river.
The Head of Information Unit of the Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Tema Ager, said the ongoing operation at the scene can no longer be described as a rescue mission, given the length of time the victims have remained underwater.
Ager disclosed that two additional bodies were recovered from the river on Sunday during an assessment of the accident scene. He said four bodies have been recovered so far, including a priest of the Anglican Church.
He said 125 passengers have been rescued and more than nine remain missing, adding that the figures are provisional while officials check accounts from community leaders, relatives and survivors.
According to him, most of the victims were mourners from Mbayon in Gboko Local Government Area returning from a burial ceremony on the Logo Local Government Area side of the river.
Ager said the agency is working to establish the exact number of people involved by tracing passengers carried by individual motorcycle riders, as many who boarded at the riverside had not been fully identified.
Local divers continued searching the affected section of the river on Monday, but motorcycles beneath the surface and other debris are hampering the operation. Members of the canoe association have so far recovered 10 motorcycles out of the 38 that sank.
Buruku Local Government Chairman Raymond Zege said the boat was overloaded. Benue Commissioner for Marine and Blue Economy Denis Iyaghigba has ordered the arrest and detention of the boat’s captain and suspended the Buruku branch of the maritime union while an inter-ministerial panel investigates the accident.
