Residents mobilize in search of dozens missing after Nigeria boat accident. Death toll rises to 28

By CHINEDU ASADU
Associated Press

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The death toll in the boat accident in north-central Nigeria’s Niger State has risen to 28 and communities have mobilized in support of an intensified search for dozens still missing after the passenger boat capsized. The boat capsized along the Niger River on Sunday morning with more than 100 villagers, mostly women and children, aboard. They were traveling to their farmlands in the Gbajibo community, located 251 kilometers from the state capital Minna, the closest source of adequate emergency response. Divers recovered four more bodies from the river by Monday morning with at least 40 passengers believed to be still missing. Thirty had been rescued.