Not fewer than 40 people are feared dead after a boat carrying farmers and labourers to their rice farms capsized in Gorau town, Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
The incident occurred when the victims were crossing a stream to access their farms.
Most of those on board were reportedly children aged 10 to 15.
An eyewitness said more than 70 people were on the boat when it capsized shortly after departure.
The village head was also among the passengers but was reportedly rescued.
‘So far, we have recovered about 40 bodies, while six people, including the village head, were rescued,’ a local journalist who was at the scene, Sharhabilu Yahuza Kiliya, told our reporter.
Kiliya said the victims comprised farm owners and labourers engaged to harvest rice.
According to him, the canoe capsized shortly after taking off, prompting local divers to begin rescue operations.
‘Rescue operations are still ongoing, with local divers searching for those still missing and recovering bodies,’ he said.
Emergency services have been recovering bodies in the Goronyo area of the northwest ?Sokoto state after the incident on Thursday morning.
Abdulkadir Yusuf, an area manager at the ?National Inland Waterways Authority, said rescue efforts were continuing. He also said that the bodies of 40 children had been found.
Estimates of the number of people the boat had been carrying varied from as few as 57 to as many as 80, most of whom were heading to work on farms around the town of Gorau.
The number of casualties could rise as the search for missing passengers continues.