Twenty six persons have been confirmed dead while search continues following a boat mishap on Shagari River in Shagari local government area of Sokoto state.
Chairman of Shagari Council area, Alhaji Aliyu Dantani, who disclosed the accident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday, in Sokoto, said the incident occurred on Tuesday evening.
Dantani said of the 26 recovered corpses, 21 were women while five were children, adding that a search and rescue mission was ongoing.
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The council boss, however, said the actual number of passengers in the boat could not be immediately ascertained.
According to him, local divers were currently in the river to see how to either recover bodies or rescue survivors.
Sen. Aliyu Wamakko (APC-Sokoto North) has condoled with the people of Gidan Magana in Shagari Local Government Area over the death of 29 children from the boat mishap.
Wamakko, a former Governor of Sokoto State, in a statement issued by his Media Aide, Hassan Sanyinnawal, expressed shock over the incident and prayed to Allah to grant the deceased Aljannat Firdaus.
He also prayed to Allah to give the families of the deceased the fortitude to bear the irreplaceable losses.
