YOLA (Adamawa, Nigeria), Sept 10 (NNN-ALLAFRICA) — At least 15 persons drowned in a lake after a boat conveying passengers, including children, capsized in Adamawa State.
The Friday evening incident occurred when the canoe carrying 23 passengers including farmers, traders and children from Rugange village to Yola town capsized in Njuwa Lake near Dandu village in Yola South Local Government Area.
A Red Cross volunteer who spoke on phone from the scene said four corpses were recovered.
The source said humanitarian workers and local divers had intensified search for the missing persons.
An eye witness, Faisal Dabo, who spoke to journalists said heavy windstorm sent water in to the boat which suddenly got overturned.
He called on the authorities to provide engine boats for Rugange community which suffered from annual over flooding of River Benue.
Confirming the incident, the Executive Secretary, Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency (ADSEMA), Dr Muhammad Amin Sulaiman, said 7 people were rescued, two confirmed dead while fifteen were still missing.
He called for calm as authorities were making efforts to find the missing passengers, saying the search would continue by 10am on Saturday.
He disclosed that two persons died when a boat conveying men and market women from Mayobelwa to Mayo-Ine capsized on Monday. — NNN-ALLAFRICA
