Five individuals were saved after a horrific boat accident on Sunday in Zamfara State’s Mashayar Yandaga River, Gummi Local Government Area. Nine remains were discovered. The boat, which was carrying more than 40 passengers, mostly farmers and crew, capsized due to overcrowding and strong river currents.<\/p>\n
A statement released by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Tuesday in Abuja detailed the events following the accident. Rescuers, comprised primarily of local divers and fishermen, were immediately mobilized to the scene. They successfully saved five people from the wreckage. Unfortunately, nine passengers were found dead, and the search for more survivors is ongoing.<\/p>\n
\u201cSadly, 9 bodies of the passengers have been recovered so far, while search and rescue operations continue,” the statement said. It further explained that other passengers, including men, women, and children, remain unaccounted for.<\/p>\n
Authorities have also alerted communities downstream along the river to be on the lookout for any bodies that may have been carried by the current. With the strong water flow in the area, there is concern that some victims may have drifted far from the initial accident site.<\/p>\n
NEMA, in collaboration with the Sokoto Operation Office, Zamfara State Emergency Management Agency, Gummi Local Government authorities, community leaders, the Red Cross, and other local stakeholders, has been conducting the rescue and recovery efforts. An assessment of the disaster is also being carried out to better understand the extent of the incident and to implement measures to prevent future occurrences.<\/p>\n
In her response, the Director General of NEMA, Mrs. Zubaida Umar, expressed her condolences to the Government and the people of Zamfara State over the tragic loss of lives. She urged boat operators to adhere strictly to safety regulations, emphasizing the importance of avoiding overloading and ensuring that boats are equipped with necessary safety gear, including life jackets.<\/p>\n
“The safety of passengers should always be the primary concern of operators, especially during the rainy season when river currents are high,” Umar stated. She also called for more stringent regulatory oversight of waterway activities in the state to prevent future tragedies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Five individuals were saved after a horrific boat accident on Sunday in Zamfara State’s Mashayar Yandaga River, Gummi Local Government Area. Nine remains were discovered. The boat, which was carrying more than 40 passengers, mostly farmers and crew, capsized due to overcrowding and strong river currents. A statement released by the National Emergency Management Agency […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14211,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-48856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48856"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48857,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48856\/revisions\/48857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}