No fewer than 11 persons, including five children were got drowned on Tuesday when a fishing boat they were travelling in capsized along the Andoni-Bonny waterways in Andoni local government area of Rivers State.
Elanza News gathered that the incident occurred when the boat, which was carrying 25 passengers, was hit by a heavy wave, forcing it to break into two.
A source told our Correspondent that there was to rescue team as at the time of the accident, to assist the passengers swim to safety, adding that by the time rescue came, 11 passengers had already drowned while 14 others were rescued.
He stated that already, three corpses have been recovered while efforts were on to recover the remaining eight corpses.
Confirming the ugly development, the Chairman of Andoni local government council, Hon. Erastus Awortu, said most of the victims of the boat mishap were from Ngo Town, Ataba, Isiama and other communities in the LGA.
Awortu, in a statement made available to newsmen in Port Harcourt yesterday, said the situation was been monitored to offer further support especially to give the survivors necessary medical attention and recover the remains of the dead from the Sea.
He promised to do whatever within her power to reduce the burden of grief of the bereaved families and communities.