Death toll rises to 60 in Niger boat mishap

The death toll from the boat mishap which occurred at Malale riverfront in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State has risen to 60.

The boat with 90 passengers on board took off from Tugan Sule in Shagunu ward of Borgu LGA en route to Dugga for a condolence visit.

As of Monday, a total of 29 dead bodies were recovered, according to the Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Abdullahi Baba Arah, who confirmed the incident.

“NSEMA has received a report of boat mishap incident at a community called gausawa in Malale area/ward of Borgu LGA. According to our desk officer who lead the search and rescue operations, the boat took off from a community called Tugan sule in Shagunu ward with 90 people on board which includes women and children on the boat heading to dugga in for condolence visit.

“The incident happened yesterday, 2nd September 2025 at about 11:30am and the cause was attributed to overloading and collision with a tree stump.
“As at the time of filling this report 29 dead bodies have been recovered with 50 persons rescued alive while 2 people are still missing.

“Search and rescue operations are still on going for possible recovery of missing persons,” he had said.

But Reuters quoted Abdullahi Baba Ara, chairman of Borgu LGA, as saying the casualty figure was rising.

The incident occurred around 11 a.m. (1000 GMT).

Sa’adu Inuwa Muhammad, the district head of Shagumi, told Reuters he was at the scene shortly after the accident.

“I was at the scene yesterday around 12 p.m. until 4 p.m. The boat carried more than 100 people,” Muhammad said. “We were able to recover 31 corpses from the river. The boat was also recovered and removed.”

He added that four victims were buried on Tuesday in accordance with Islamic rites, and that women and children made up the majority of the deceased.