Two months after 11
people lost their lives in a boat mishap near Calabar, the capital of
Cross River State, another boat has capsized in the same river killing
four of the passengers on board, including the boat operator.
The latest
incident has further instilled fear over marine transportation across
the river from Calabar to Creek Town, as boats capsize now and again
with no survivors to tell the story of how it all happened.
In February, 11
people who boarded a flying boat from Creek Town to Calabar on a
business trip died midway at the Calabar lower water channel after
running into a violent storm. They were mostly market women conveying
agricultural produce for sale in Calabar.
The boat involved
in the most recent accident left Calabar last Sunday afternoon loaded
with some members of the Deliverance Bible Ministries for an Easter
convention in Creek Town, in the Odukpani local government area. The
boat, according to eyewitness accounts, capsized at a distance not far
from the Creek Town beach due to a turbulent wave that caused the speed
boat to tumble, throwing all the passengers into sea.
No life jacket, no help
“The victims, who
had no life-saving jacket on, could not swim and had to cave into the
turbulent water current which drowned them. All we heard was a loud
explosion which do occur in such situations. Before we could reach them
for help, they had drowned,” a fisherman who gave his name as Otu Eyo,
said.
He said efforts by
him and other fishermen at the Creek Town beach to use a boat to rescue
the victims were abortive as they had already drowned in the before
help could reach them.
Their corpses
later surfaced on the water and were taken away and deposited at a
mortuary in a public hospital in Calabar for identification and
collection by the bereaved family members.
A man who gave his name as Honesty said one of those who died in
the boat mishap was a community leader from Efut Ibonda, a community in
Creek Town, who was leading the others to the church convention at
Creek Town.
