28 dead following boat mishap in Nigeria

At least 28 people were confirmed dead while seven others were declared missing following a boat mishap in Nigeria's central-north state of Niger, reported Xinhua, quoting local authorities on Sunday.

Ahmed Inga, the director-general of the State Emergency Management Agency(SEMA) in Niger, said the accident happened at about 6 p.m. local time on Saturday when a wooden boat carrying 100 people hit a stump of a tree and broke in a river in Shiroro local government area of the state.

Inga said the boat sink about 50 metres to its destination.

He said so far 65 people have been rescued and 28 corpses recovered by local divers, while seven people are still missing.

A rescue operation was still ongoing to recover the missing persons, Inga said.