Pregnant woman and six children die in Benue boat tragedy

Eleven people, including a pregnant woman and six children, have died in a boat accident in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State.

The incident happened between 7 pm and 8 pm on Saturday while the passengers were crossing a river from Wadata to the Daududawada community during a heavy downpour that affected parts of Makurdi.

Nura Umar, commander of the local vigilante group Operation Shara (Sweep) in North Bank, confirmed the tragedy. He said the victims included a pregnant woman, six children and four other adults.

Umar explained that the victims were mourners from Daududawada, an island community behind the Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering (NASME) Barracks in Makurdi’s North Bank area.

According to him, the group had travelled to Wadata to bury a woman from their community who had died after being taken to a private hospital in North Bank for treatment.

“What happened was that we took a sick woman who lived in the community behind NASME to a private hospital in North Bank on Saturday morning, where she later died,” he said.

He added that the relatives of the deceased joined them for the burial, which took place at Wadata. After the ceremony, they boarded a boat to return to Daududawada because the water route was shorter than traveling by road.

“At about 7 pm, heavy rain accompanied by strong winds started, causing the boat to capsize midway through the journey,” Umar said.

“There were over 40 passengers on board, but 11 are feared dead. So far, we have recovered four bodies and buried them, while divers are still searching for the remaining seven victims,” he added.

Umar also disclosed that one of the survivors lost her baby during the incident.