by crossriverwatch admin
A boat traveling from Oron in Akwa Ibom State to Gabon Today capsized at the Calabar Waterways with no fewer than 166 passengers feared dead.
Eyewitnesses told crossriverwatch that the passengers were traveling in a “giant-sized wooden boat’’ when it capsized at 40 nautical miles along the coast of Calabar off Gabon waterways’’.
Investigation by crossriverwatch shows that 45 corpses of some of the victims have already been deposited at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) mortuary.
Mr. David Akate, the Assistant Director, Information, Cross River Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), who confirmed the incident to crossriverwatch did not give further details.
But eyewitnesses who spoke to our reporter said that the boat was carrying 166 passengers, adding that rescue efforts were still going on.
A Marine transporter at the Calabar Inland Waterways, Mr. Ikechukwu Egwu, also confirmed the incident to crossriverwatch.
He said that the passengers of the boat were mostly Igbo traders who were heading for Gabon. He added that the traders were mostly from the South East states that traveled to Oron in Akwa Ibom to board the wooden boat because it was cheap.
“They are mostly Igbo traders who headed to Oron to board the wooden boat because it was cheaper,’’ he said.
The victims’ corpses were being deposited in UCTH Calabar because they were believed to be Nigerians.
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