Seven people have died in a canoe accident in Gwayaka river in Lafia East Development Area of Lafia Local government in Nasarawa State.
The incident is coming barely a year after four died in a boat accident in Ashangwa, in the same Lafia East Development Area of the state.
A witness said that the victims, who were mostly irrigation farmers from Kano, were returning from their farms on Friday evening when the incident occurred.
According to him, the canoe was overloaded with over twenty passengers and the peddler complained about it, pleading with them to allow him to make two trips.
However, the passengers, who were eager to cross the river, were adamant.
He said: “The peddler, out of anger, abandoned the canoe, then one of the passengers started peddling it across the river. Suddenly, the canoe capsized at the middle of the river in which 7 of them were discovered missing while others came out alive.”
He said, as at Monday, three dead bodies out of the seven, had been recovered while efforts were ongoing to find the remaining four.
The overseer of Lafia East Development Area, Shuaibu Dahiru Zanwa, who confirmed the incident, said efforts were on top gear to recover the remaining four dead bodies.
He said a security meeting with the communities along the river bank, including district and village heads, would be held to take measures against further recurrence of such unfortunate incident.
