At Ezetu 1 Community in the Southern Ijaw local government area of Bayelsa State, some 20 people were burnt to death on Wednesday night when the engine of a wooden market boat, also known as the "Denghe market boat," exploded in the middle of the river and sank.
Rescue efforts are still underway to retrieve the drowned occupants of the unfortunate boat, according to ASP Musa Muhammad, the public relations officer for the Bayelsa State Police, who confirmed the event to reporters yesterday.
"A mishap occurred on the local boat that was traveling from Ekeni community in Southern Ijaw to Yenagoa. It is reported that approximately twenty people lost their lives, and efforts are currently underway to recover their corpses," the speaker stated.
As stated According to a community source, the sad event happened on Wednesday around 4:30 p.m. when a local boat carrying people and market vendors caught fire while returning from Ezetu Community to the well-known Swali Market in the Yenagoa local government region.
It was discovered that the market boat often makes its weekly trip back to Yenagoa after moving from village to community along the coastal areas to conduct improvised markets.
Ipigansi Ogoniba, the chairman of the Maritime Workers Union in Bayelsa State, verified the boat disaster and stated that some of the passengers were burned when the local boat caught fire in the middle of the river when it was traveling to the Okubie town.
The number of casualties, he claimed, cannot be determined due to the fact that the search is still underway at the time the report was filed, but the union rescue team that responded to the location was able to locate one body late on Wednesday night.
"The boat left the Ezetu 1 community around 3pm on their way to Okubie. The onboard engine they were using caught fire and exploded, causing the boat to burn and sink. Some of the people on board drowned in the water. At that point, there was no network to reach the Yenagoa rescue team because it always took about 18 hours to get to Yenagoa from that point, whereas a speedboat only took about 5 hours." he said.
The Association of Chairpersons of Comrade Odede Dinikpete Tina of the Coastal and Waterways Communities of Nigeria in Bayelsa State blamed the higher death toll on the boat operators' disregard for safety procedures, including wearing life jackets while on the water.
She begged the state government to step up efforts to build more road connections between coastal communities in order to stop the constant deaths in rivers, noting that despite the association's multiple safety protocol sensitization campaigns, people still choose not to wear life jackets when traveling on waterways.
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