Thirty-five people were reported missing after a head-on collision between two boats on the Gummi River in Zamfara State.
The tragedy occurred when a boat carrying more than forty people, mostly farmers—capsized after colliding with another vessel while traveling across the river to their crops.
A boat operator in the vicinity, who demanded anonymity, said the boat was heavily overloaded despite multiple warnings from the boat operators association.
He said that the boat captain was told against going with the heavy load, but all fell on deaf ears, and several passengers refused to leave from the excursion.
According to a source, the boat developed a problem in the middle of the river, and another boat operator attempted to assist, but regrettably, the two boats collided and both sank.
Rescue teams according to him were able to save seven persons while thirty five are still unaccounted for as at the time of filling this report
Among the missing passengers are men, women, and underage children whom were warned, but refused to step out of the overloaded boat.
Gummi local government is already battling to recover from the flood incident that affected over two hundred Households.
