3 dead, 7 rescued after boat capsizes on Oti River

0
88
A dinghy with 15 Afghan refugees, 5 children, 3 women and 7 men, approaches the Greek island of Lesbos on February 28, 2020 next to UK Border Force patrol boat HMC Valiant (background), a cutter patroling in Agean sea under European Union border force Frontex. - Turkey will no longer close its border gates to refugees who want to go to Europe, a senior official told AFP on February 28, shortly after the killing of 33 Turkish soldiers in an airstrike in northern Syria. (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS / AFP)

Three persons have died after a boat they were travelling in capsized Tuesday evening on the Oti River in Dambai.

The boat, which carried 10 persons from Dambai, was heading towards Njari, a farming and fishing community in Krachi East Municipality of the Oti Region when the incident occurred.

Seven (7) persons have been rescued with three (3) reported dead. The three include a man, a woman and a child.

Assembly Member for the Dambai Lakeside electoral area, Emmanuel Atali, confirmed that an operation has been launched by the Navy, NADMO, police, and residents to retrieve the bodies.

This comes after travellers resorted to using canoes to cross the Oti River following the breakdown of the only ferry on the river.

Calls by travellers have been made to secure another ferry or for the construction of a bridge over the Oti River.