Authorities in Nigeria have confirmed that 32 people, 20 of whom were small children, were killed after a boat ferrying passengers capsized and sank in the country’s north-eastern state of Taraba on Saturday, November 11.
The incident occurred along the Benue River near the local government area of Ibbi as the unnamed vessel was travelling eastward at around 16:30 local time on Saturday.
Numerous investigations have since been launched to identify the probable causes of the tragedy.
The capsizing near Ibbi is the second fatal passenger vessel incident to occur in the waters of Taraba in less than a month.
On October 28, a boat transporting over 100 passengers via the Benue River capsized near the town of Karim Lamido, killing at least 20 people. Officials have attributed this earlier incident to overloading.