Zamfara boat mishap: 10 bodies recovered, 22 still missing

Corpses of 10 of the victims of the boat accident that occurred on Saturday at Gummi, Gummi Local Government Area of Zamfara State have been recovered.

The bodies were said to have been recovered Tuesday night.

This is even as 22 of the passengers of the accidented boat are still missing five after the mishap.

The state emergency agency yesterday said it had extended search efforts to neighbouring villages.

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The boat capsized in the Mashayar Yan Tauri River and allegedly sank with all the passengers on board.

The boat, said to be overloaded, collided with an oncoming empty boat that went to reduce some of its passengers to prevent it from capsizing.

Confirming the recovery, the Secretary of the Gummi Emirate Council, Alhaji Mahmud S. Fada, said the 10 bodies were buried where they were discovered.

He said the emirate had introduced a standard limit of 20 passengers per boat for operators in all the rivers across the emirate.

He said a committee had been set up to enforce the order.

“The emir has ordered that henceforth, no boat would be allowed to carry more than 20 passengers. The emirate will also source for additional boats to be distributed to all rivers within the emirate.

“Where we have three boats, four additional boats will be provided in order to ease transportation hardship faced by our people,” the secretary concluded.

‘Corpses found in different locations’

A resident of Gummi, Alhaji Abubakar Abdullahi, told Daily Trust yesterday that the 10 corpses were recovered at different locations far away from the Mashayar Yan Tauri River.

He said: “We could not bring back the corpses to Gummi town from the villages they were discovered because they have decomposed beyond recognition. Very few of them were brought to Gummi town for burial. In fact, most of the victims were recognised by their clothes.”

How the boat capsized —Eyewitness 

Malam Abdulra’uf Abdullahi told Daily Trust that he was among the initial 40 passengers that boarded the boat, but disembarked after the captain requested a reduction of passengers.

He said: “When the captain realised the boat was overloaded, he asked the passengers to reduce their numbers, but they refused. His elder brother also warned him not to drive the boat until he reduced the passengers.

“So, the captain was about to take-off when his elder brother came with the second boat. He was trying to move closer to the overloaded boat to reduce the passengers when suddenly his boat hit the edge of the overloaded boat and it immediately capsized because of the load it carried”, the eyewitness said.

Another person who also escaped the tragedy, Ibrahim Aminu, said: “People have tried their best to rescue the victims, but unfortunately very few were rescued.

“It goes like a mystery because whenever we rushed to rescue the victims, they would just sink and disappear. We saw some of them when the boat capsized. But when we tried to rescue them, they disappeared.

“Honestly, the tragedy is mysterious to many people in this community. Immediately the boat capsized and the victims disappeared within a few minutes, and all efforts to rescue them failed”, he said.

It was learnt that from the 40 people that initially boarded the boat, eight escaped unharmed.

How I escaped – Survivor 

Dan Tani, one of the survivors of the incident, in an interview with Daily Trust, said that: “I was inside the boat when it was hit by the other boat and it started sinking. I am familiar with the river. So, when the boat started sinking, I quickly disembarked from it and started swimming to save my life.

“By the time I reached the bank of the river, I was completely exhausted. I was assisted by some good Samaritans who pulled me out of the river. I spent almost an hour without uttering a word after I was pulled out from the river.

“It is tragic to fall victim to a boat mishap. I was only swimming hoping to escape. If not that God spared my life, I would have been among the deceased. Alhamdulillah, I survived it”, he said.

Victims’ families speak

The Galadiman Gummi, Alhaji Muhammad Bello, who lost his son, Abdul-Nasir, described the incident as sad and painful.

“Our major concern is that we have not seen the corpses of our loved ones four days after the incident. We have searched several places, but we could not see them.

“It is a very sad moment for us the affected families. I always remember my last moment with Abdul-Nasir. We were sitting at the frontage of our house planning how to go to the farm that very day.

“He said to me that he could not wait until his brother returned the motorcycle we intended to ride to the farm. He asked for money to board the boat and I gave him. After about 30 minutes, his friends rushed to my house and informed me that Abdul-Nasir and several other people had drowned in the river,” he said.

Malam Mansur Abdullahi, who also lost his brother in the accident, said: “It is painful to lose an intimate brother in this manner. I am always together with my younger brother, Hamza Abdullahi. In fact, we boarded the same boat that day, but I and a few others got down when the captain complained about overload.

“We were going to the farm together. But when the captain complained about overload, I disembarked. That’s how we were separated. I would have also fallen victim of the disaster. But as God would have it, I am still alive,” he said.

‘Search extended to neighbouring villages’

The Executive Secretary of the Zamfara State Emergency Management Agency (ZEMA), Ambassador Bala Ahmad, said the agency was working hand-in-hand with locals to recover bodies that were still missing.

He said the search efforts had been extended to neighbouring villages.

“You know, the water is usually taking corpses to other destinations,” Ahmad added.

He said the state government had sent a delegation to Gummi town to sympathise with the relations of the victims.

He said the delegation, led by Deputy Governor, Mani Malam Mumini, had presented a cash donation of N20 million to the affected families on behalf of the state government.