David Akate, the Assistant Director, Information, Cross River Emergency Management Agency, confirmed the incident to National Mirror.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Nigeria had earlier reported nine people dead and two survivors however eyewitnesses told our correspondent that the passengers were traveling in a massive wooden boat that took off from Oron, Akwa Ibom State, and headed for the French-speaking west African nation of Gabon. The boat capsized off the waters in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
A source at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) confirmed that the corpses of 45 victims of the disaster had been deposited at the hospital’s morgue. He added that the hospital and other hospitals in the area were getting ready to receive more bodies as they were discovered.
David Akate, the assistant director for information at the Cross River Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), also confirmed the incident, but did not give further details.
But a correspondent of SaharaReporters spoke to several eyewitnesses. One of them said the boat was carrying 168 passengers. The source added that frantic efforts were underway at the scene of the disaster. “We are trying our best to rescue any of the passengers and to recover corpses,” the source said.
Official sources said the victims’ corpses were brought to the the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital instead of Malabo, where the mishap occurred, because they were believed to be Nigerians. One source revealed that some corpses were also taken to hospitals in Oron, Akwa Ibom.
A Marine Transporter at the Calabar Inland Waterways, Ikechukwu Egwu confirmed the incident to National Mirror adding that the passengers of the boat were mostly Igbo traders who were travelling to Gabon. He said they boarded the wooden boat because it was cheaper.
Wednesday 20 March 2013
http://www.bellanaija.com/2013/03/20/boat-carrying-166-passengers-sinks-in-calabar/
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