According to 3News, a boat carrying mourners from Azizanya to Azizakpe on Volata Lake capsized. While a rescue effort to save the remaining passengers is underway, five of the over 20 passengers on board have been confirmed dead.
The disaster was confirmed by Daniel Adzakpa, an assemblyman from the Azizakpe Electoral Area.
He claimed that the canoe capsized during a storm on Saturday morning while transporting mourners to an Azizakpe funeral. The assemblyman estimated that the skiff could hold approximately 25 people, but he noticed that there were more.
“The boat was overloaded,” he said on Saturday, March 18, on TV3’s Midday Live. Hundreds of residents, including other mourners, were seen praying for good news as the rescue operation was underway.
The locals, mostly women, were praying aloud on the riverbanks for the discovery of the missing people.
