Not more than six people when a boat which they and other passengers boarded sink in Ogurude, Obubra Local Government Area of Cross River state According to local sources, the victims returned from a burial in the village on the other side of the Cross River at the time of the incident.
Agnetus Okpa, who is a teacher in the village said: “The canoe is overloaded. Some people were advised to stay behind, but they refused and the boat helmsmen whose greed for money, allowed them to boarded the boat and while the boat was in the middle of the river, it sink
He also said the victims were vistors from Akamkpa, another local government area, who came for a burial in the community.
They are from Akamkpa Local Government, and they came for the burial of a friend’s father. They couldn’t swim when the boat sink. The Helmsman and other passengers in the boat swan to safety while they (visitors) drowned.
He said some bodies has been recovered while searching continues to located the remaining bodies.
He emphasized that the incident happened as a result of the non-availability of a boat given to them by the state government due to a fault, stating that it was abandoned the shore of the river in Ogurude, which left travellers with limitedresulting to helmsmen overloading the available boats
