According to rescue officials, an overloaded boat carrying scores of passengers, predominantly children aged eight to fifteen, capsized on the Bagwai River in northwest Nigeria’s Kano state.
The incident occurred late Tuesday, according to Saminu Abdullahi, a spokeswoman for Kano state’s fire service.
“We have recovered 29 bodies … and rescued seven passengers. The search for the remaining 13 bodies is ongoing,” Abdullahi told the news agency on Wednesday.
The boat was “meant to convey 12 adults, but the skipper put such a large number of children onboard,” according to Abdullahi.
The children were on their way to Bagwai, a town on the other side of the river, for a religious event from Badau village in Kano state.
Overcrowding, severe weather, and a lack of maintenance are all factors that contribute to boat accidents on Nigerian waterways.
When their boat capsized last month in neighbouring Jigawa state, seven girls aged 10 to 12 drowned.
A boat ferrying wedding guests collapsed in Sokoto state in June, killing 13 people.
In May, more than 150 people went missing after their wooden boat broke apart and drowned on the Niger River, making it one of the deadliest known accidents.
