According to police and local authorities, over 100 people drowned in north central Nigeria after a boat carrying families returning from a wedding capsized in a river.
Details on the Kwara State boat catastrophe were still emerging. Still, it was the latest boat tragedy in Nigeria, where river capsizes are regularly due to overloading, common safety practices, and excessive flooding during the rainy season.
The boat was ferrying people from a wedding in neighbouring Niger State when it went down, according to local police and the Kwara governor's office on Tuesday, without specifying the cause.
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According to the governor's office, the victims returned from a wedding ceremony in Kwara's Patigi district.
The governor was keeping an eye on the rescue attempts, which had been ongoing since Monday night in search of probable survivors, according to the statement.
Last month, 15 children drowned, and 25 others went missing after their overloaded boat capsized on their way to collect firewood in northwest Sokoto State.
Another 29 children from a nearby village drowned in the same river almost a year earlier while on a trip to collect firewood for their homes.
Last December, at least 76 people drowned during the rainy season when their boat capsized in a swollen river in southeastern Anambra State.
The riverboat is prevalent in Nigeria. Despite poor road infrastructure, abduction for ransom is a serious concern along several roadways.
The Niger River is West Africa's largest waterway, flowing in a crescent from Guinea to Nigeria's Niger Delta and serving as a critical commerce route for several countries.
Nigeria's National Inland Waterways Authority has attempted to outlaw nighttime river sailing to prevent accidents. It has made overloading ships criminal, although skippers and workers frequently disregard the regulations.
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