On the Niger River in northern Nigeria, a vessel carrying more than 165 souls broke apart mid-journey, swallowing the hopes and lives of over a hundred passengers into its waters. The disaster, which unfolded as the boat traveled toward Kebbi state, claimed at least five confirmed lives — among them an infant — while rescue teams and grieving families alike searched for answers along the riverbank. It is a tragedy that speaks to the fragile covenant between human life and the waterways that connect communities across the continent, where the cost of passage is sometimes measured in the irrepla
Over 100 feared dead as boat sinks in Nigeria with 165 aboard
Over 100 people missing and feared dead, including women and children; five bodies recovered including an infant; families separated and searching for relatives.
He watched five children disappear into the water
Mark
What made this boat break apart so suddenly? Was there a storm, a collision, something mechanical?
Mimi
That's the question everyone's asking. The officials haven't said yet. It just fractured and sank while crossing the Niger River. No clear cause announced.
Mark
And the children—Shehu Bello's account is haunting. He survived but lost five kids he was responsible for.
Mimi
Yes. Two were his own children, three were his brother's. He was there when it happened, watched them go under. That's the kind of thing that stays with a person.
Mark
How many rescue boats were actually searching?
Mimi
Eleven boats and divers. But 138 people missing in a river—the odds of finding anyone alive after some time passes get worse by the hour.
Mark
The baby they recovered—do we know anything about what happened to the mother?
Mimi
She was never identified. A baby less than a year old pulled from the water, but the person who gave birth to that child is still missing. That's the kind of detail that haunts a disaster.
Mark
Was this a licensed vessel, or one of those informal transport boats?
Mimi
The reporting doesn't say. That's another gap—we don't know if this was a regulated ferry or something more informal. That matters for understanding how it happened.
Der Puls
- A boat carrying over 165 passengers — women, children, and men — suddenly fractured and sank on the Niger River, triggering an immediate and desperate rescue operation.
- Only twenty-two people were pulled from the water alive, while five bodies were recovered, including an infant under one year old whose mother could not be identified.
- More than 138 people remain unaccounted for, leaving families stranded on the riverbank in agonizing uncertainty about whether their loved ones are alive or lost.
- One survivor, Shehu Bello, escaped the sinking but watched five children — two of his own and three of his brother's — disappear into the water, embodying the human weight behind every missing name.
- Eleven rescue boats and teams of divers are combing the river, racing against time and murky conditions with no clear explanation yet for why the vessel broke apart.
On the Niger River in northern Nigeria, a vessel carrying more than 165 souls broke apart mid-journey, swallowing the hopes and lives of over a hundred passengers into its waters. The disaster, which unfolded as the boat traveled toward Kebbi state, claimed at least five confirmed lives — among them an infant — while rescue teams and grieving families alike searched for answers along the riverbank. It is a tragedy that speaks to the fragile covenant between human life and the waterways that connect communities across the continent, where the cost of passage is sometimes measured in the irreplaceable.
A boat carrying more than 165 passengers broke apart and sank on the Niger River in northern Nigeria, leaving over 100 people missing and feared dead. The vessel was making its way from Niger state toward the town of Wara in Kebbi state when it suddenly fractured and went under. Among those aboard were women and children.
Twenty-two people were rescued from the water alive, but five bodies had already been recovered — two men, two women, and an infant less than a year old. The baby's mother remained unidentified. Sani Dododo, head of the Kebbi State Emergency Management Agency, confirmed that roughly 138 people were still unaccounted for, with eleven rescue boats and teams of divers deployed across the waterway.
For those on shore, the wait was unbearable. Survivor Shehu Bello had been traveling with five children — two of his own and three belonging to his brother. When the boat gave way, all five disappeared into the river. Bello survived, but his account carried the full weight of that fact. The cause of the vessel's structural failure remained unknown, and rescue operations continued as families gathered at the water's edge, hoping for word that someone they loved had been found.
A boat carrying more than 165 people broke apart and sank on the Niger River in northern Nigeria, leaving over 100 passengers missing and feared dead. The vessel was traveling from Niger state toward the town of Wara in Kebbi state when it suddenly fractured and went down, according to officials who announced the disaster on Wednesday. Among those aboard were women and children. By the time rescue operations were underway, twenty-two people had been pulled from the water alive, but five bodies had already been recovered—two men, two women, and an infant less than a year old. The baby's mother remained unidentified.
Sani Dododo, who heads the Kebbi State Emergency Management Agency, confirmed the grim accounting to journalists. The scale of the missing was staggering: roughly 138 people remained unaccounted for as rescue crews mobilized across the river. Eleven rescue boats and teams of divers were deployed to search for survivors, their work complicated by the sheer number of people lost and the conditions of the waterway.
For those waiting on shore, the uncertainty was agonizing. Shehu Bello, one of the passengers who survived, described the moment the boat failed. He had been traveling with five children—two of his own and three belonging to his brother. When the vessel broke apart, all five children vanished into the water. Bello made it out alive, but the weight of that survival was evident in his account: he was desperately worried about the children, unsure whether any of them had been found.
The cause of the boat's structural failure remained unclear. There was no immediate explanation for why the vessel had suddenly broken up mid-journey. Rescue efforts continued as families gathered along the riverbank, hoping for word that their relatives had been found alive. The recovery operation would stretch on as divers worked the murky waters, searching for bodies and any remaining survivors among the 138 still missing.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Two of the children are mine, while the other three are the children of my brother. The boat broke apart suddenly and then started to sink.— Shehu Bello, rescued passenger
We have two male and two female corpses, while the fifth is that of a baby that is less than one year old. The mother of the infant had not been identified.— Sani Dododo, Kebbi State Emergency Management Agency chairman
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