Yenagoa, Bayelsa State when canoes transporting passengers capsized,
eyewitnesses said.
Witnesses told the News Agency of Nigeria in Yenagoa that the tragedy
occurred when the two canoes, transporting persons from Akenfa III to
Akenfa I, capsized on the Epie Creek at about 8a.m.
NAN reports that the accident is one of the major disasters recorded
due to the ravaging flood in the state in the past three weeks.
Witnesses said the two canoes collided close to where they were
supposed to have berthed at Akenfa I due to panic by the passengers.
NAN learnt that the five persons, who had yet to be rescued from the
creek, included a woman with a baby strapped on her back. A NAN
correspondent who visited the scene reports that a large crowd was
seen at banks of the Epie Creek at Akenfa III, the take-off point, and
Akenfa I, the destination.
Meanwhile some officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission who
said they had received a distress call, added that the Nigerian Navy
had been notified due to the commission's handicap.
Meanwhile, the Bayelsa State Police Command's Public Relations
Officer, DSP Fidelis Odunna, who confirmed the incident, however, said
that three persons and the driver
of one of the canoes, were missing.
Source. : punch.com.ng