On 30 November 2021, a severely overloaded boat carrying more than 50 people, mostly children aged between 8 and 15, capsized on the Watari Dam in Kano State, Nigeria.
[1][2] Boat accidents are common in Nigeria due to overloading, bad weather, poor maintenance and lack of regulations to protect the safety of passengers.
The vessel was carrying Islamic school pupils from Badau village to the town of Bagwai on the other side of the river for a religious ceremony.
[1] Rescue operations involved the police, fire services, volunteers and members of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.
The committee had been ordered by Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje who expressed shock after hearing news of the capsizing, calling the incident "a state tragedy," and thanked rescuers, saying "[w]e salute the courage and the patriotic posture of the rescue teams.