Boat Explosion in Nigeria’s Bayelsa State, Kills at Least 20

A boat explosion in Nigeria’s southern region of Bayelsa State has resulted in the deaths of at least 20 people.

The explosion and sinking on the Ezetu 1 River a day earlier was the latest in a series of deadly boat accidents that increasingly point to regulatory failures.

Musa Muhammed, spokesperson for the Bayelsa police, said at the time of filing this report that they could not ascertain the cause behind the explosion.

Briefing newsmen about the incident, Ipigansi Ogoniba, chair of the Maritime Workers Union in Bayelsa, said the boat was carrying traders from Ekeni, a small community in the state of Bayelsa, to Yenagoa, the state’s capital city, when the engine exploded.

Ogoniba said emergency service providers could not respond quickly to the accident because there is no telephone network in the area.

Some of the passengers were burned beyond recognition.

Boat disasters are a rampant occurrence in Nigeria, with no record of the total number of deaths in such accidents, though there were at least five involving at least 100 passengers each in the second half of 2023.

 

Fatimah Ibrahim Danjuma

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