NEMA CONFIRMS TARABA BOAT ACCIDENT: 17 BODIES RECOVERED, 12 RESCUED

Babatunji Wusu –

Rescue workers retrieved at least seventeen lifeless bodies after a boat carrying 104 people overturned in Taraba State.

The boat capsized on Saturday, October 28, 2023, with over 100 people on board, largely local traders, including women and children, according to Naija News. The event occurred as the inhabitants were returning from the Mayorenero fish market in Ardo – Kola Local Government en route to Binnari in Karim – Lamido Local Government, all in Taraba State.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) provided an update on the event on Monday, stating that twelve people had been retrieved alive.

Bashir Garga, NEMA’s Director of Emergency Services, told BBC Hausa that rescue operations are still ongoing. Some of the victims, he claims, were buried along the river at Mayoreneyo and Binnari.

Earlier, Jidda Mayoreneyo, the acting chairman of Taraba’s inland water carriers, told Daily Trust that six of the victims were buried yesterday in Mayoreneyo.

He explained that the organization had obtained permission from the victims’ relatives before burying them. Other deceased were buried at Binnari, where the boat capsized on Saturday, according to Mayoreneyo.

Jidda went on to say that four more remains uncovered were buried beside the river after their families gave permission.