No fewer than six people on Thursday drowned in Ogurude, Obubra Local Government Area of Cross River State when a boat conveying them capsized.

WuzupNigeria gathered that the deceased were returning from a funeral when the incident occurred.

“The canoe was overloaded. Some people were advised to stay back, but they insisted on going and the boat helmsman, who was eager to collect money, allowed more than the required number to board and mid-river, the boat capsized,” The Punch quoted a teacher in the village, one Ignatius Okpa, as saying.

He also said the victims were not indigenes of the area but visitors, who came from Akamkpa, another local government area, for burial in the community.

“They came from the Akamkpa Local Government Area to attend the burial of the father of their friend. They were unable to swim when the boat capsized. The helmsman and others from the area swam to safety, while the visitors drowned,” Okpa stated.

He said divers had recovered some of the bodies, while the search for the others was continuing.

Okpa blamed the incident on the non-availability of a boat donated by the state government due to a fault, adding that it was abandoned at the shore of the river in Ogurude, a situation that had left travellers with fewer boats with the attendant overloading of the canoe that capsized.