Latest news At least 45 dead after boat accident in Nigeria

According to authorities, at least 45 people have died in a boat accident in the West African country of Nigeria. The boat sank on Saturday morning on a river near the town of Gummi in the northern state of Zamfara, Hassan Dauran, the director of the state's disaster management authority, told the German press agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur on Sunday. Ten passengers were rescued. The total number of passengers on board the barge remained unclear on Sunday, Dauran said. The wooden boat had been overloaded with goods and had therefore capsized.

Boat accidents with high numbers of victims often occur in Africa's most populous country with around 220 million inhabitants - as well as in other countries on the continent. They can usually be attributed to overcrowding, inadequate conditions on the boats and a lack of safety precautions. In many parts of the continent, simple wooden boats are still used to transport people, animals and goods.

SDA