River boat capsize claims over 40 lives in Nigeria

More than 40 people are presumed to have died after a boat overloaded with passengers sank on a river in northwestern Nigeria, authorities said on Sunday.

The vessel was ferrying 53 farmers to their farms across the Gummi River in Zamfara State on Saturday when it capsized, a local official said.

"Only 12 were rescued yesterday shortly after the accident," said Na'Allah Musa, a political administrator of the flood-hit Gummi district where the accident happened, adding that authorities were searching for the bodies of the rest of the passengers, who are presumed to have died.

Musa added that the vessel was "crammed with passengers far beyond its capacity which caused it to overturn and sink".

In a statement on Sunday, Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu "expressed the government and the people of Nigeria's commiseration" for the "twin tragedies" of the farmers' deaths and the nearby floods.

In recent days, rising waters in the Gummi area have forced more than 10,000 people to flee, with Tinubu promising support for the victims.

Boat accidents are common on Nigeria's poorly regulated waterways, particularly during the rainy season when river and lakes swell.

Last month, 30 farmers on their way to their rice fields drowned after their overloaded boat sank in the Dundaye River in neighbouring Sokoto State, emergency officials said.

Three days earlier, 15 farmers died when their canoe overturned on the Gamoda River in Jigawa State, according to the police.