13 die in boat accident, tanker fire in Niger

No fewer than seven persons including four ladies and three children drowned when the boat in which they were travelling capsised on River Gbako in Katcha Local Government Area of Niger State on Saturday.

Sunday Tribune gathered  that six people also died when a fuel-laden tanker caused multiple accidents in Mokwa town, Mokwa Local Government Area  of the state on Friday.

The capsised boat was carrying 10 passengers , all females, from Balsa community, who were headed for a farm across the river to trash rice when the accident happened at about 11:00 a.m on Saturday.

Three of them, according to officials of the state emergency agency, were rescued by divers.

The owner of the farm, one Yabagi, lost a wife, a daughter and granddaughter in the incident.

Gbako River borders Katcha and Lavun local government areas  of the state.

The Director General of the state’s Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Mallam Ahmed Ibrahim Inga, who confirmed the incident, said local current was always strong in the morning, especially when moving against the tide, which resulted in accident this same time of the year.

Similarly, in the fire incident, according to a witnesses,  two petrol tankers were travelling together but that the driver of the one at the back lost control due to a failed brake.

It was said to have hit the one in front, which veered off the road and rammed against the wall of a guest house in the town.

The source, who spoke to Sunday Tribune said the tanker also hit another one parked by the side of the road, which resulted in an explosion.

The incident was also said to have left many with various degrees of injuries, with two of them currently in critical condition.

Mallam Inga, who confirmed the incident, said 12 shops along the road were burnt.