Seven dead as boat capsizes in Edo

At least seven individuals are feared to have lost their lives in a tragic boat accident on the Gelegele River within the Ovia North East Local Government area of Edo State. These passengers, reportedly numbering 28, were en route from Ofunama.

The boat found itself adrift after running out of fuel, and it collided with oil barges owned by a multinational oil exploration company due to the force of the waves.

As the incident occurred on Ekehuan market day, passengers disembarked at various riverine communities once the boat ran out of fuel. The boat operator anchored the vessel and departed to procure fuel. Upon his return, he disengaged the boat from the anchorage but encountered difficulties starting it. While attempting to restart the boat, it was swept into the path of the oil barges by powerful waves.

Blessing Perewari, the Vice Chairman of Ovia South West Local Government area, where a significant number of the victims hailed from, visited the accident site and informed journalists on Monday that this tragic event took place on a Thursday.

According to him, some bodies were only recovered on Saturday while floating on the river, saying, “From what I heard I was also at the scene where the boat capsized. About 28 adults, two pregnant women and three babies were involved. When they got to the Gelegele waterside there was this Dubri oil company barge that was parked in parallel.

“Because of the way the barges were parked caused obstruction on the waterway. So, this particular boat carrying 28 persons after dropping two passengers tried to restart the boat but the engine failed to respond.

“And because of the high current of the river it now pushed the boat into the Dubri oil barges and it torpedoed under the barges making it difficult for the victims to come out. Some of them that know how to swim managed to escape while others were trapped under the barges.

“With the help of the Marine Police and other community inhabitants, we were able to rescue 18 of the passengers and seven died. The remains of the dead have been deposited at Time Hospital and Stella Obasanjo Hospital.”

One of the persons who participated in the rescue operation and also a member of the community, Comrade Joseph Gbale, corroborated the position of the Vice chairman: “Even though there was carelessness on the part of the driver of the boat, the barges should not have been parked in a double manner thereby narrowing the water way.“

An officer of the Marine Police said the report of the incident had been sent to the Edo State Police Command in Benin City while the Police Public Relations Officer, Chidi Nwabuzor when contacted said he was in a meeting and promised to respond later.“