BAMAKO - Nineteen people died when an overloaded canoe capsized in Mali, local authorities said Thursday, in the second major river accident in the poor west African nation in four months.
The vessel overturned Wednesday on a stretch of the Niger river passing through the town of Bangou, around 140 kilometres (85 miles) from the central city of Mopti, officials told AFP.
Oumar Sanke, of the Mopti civil protection department told AFP “19 people were killed, four are missing and 70 survived”.
“The search and rescue continues. The death toll remains provisional because we do not know exactly how many passengers boarded (the canoe),” he added.
But a spokesman from the Mopti river rescue authority said the vessel was “overloaded, as usual”.
“There was a very strong wind and there was panic on board. All passengers leapt to one side of the boat. With the imbalance, it capsized,” said the official.
“The search continues. We believe there are other victims,” he added.
An earlier government statement which put the death toll at 18 said the accident happened around 5:00 am (0500 GMT).
The statement said the eight crew members were among the survivors.
The Niger, west Africa’s main waterway, is more than 4,100 kilometres (2,500 miles) long and connects landlocked Mali’s arid north to the more fertile south.
Rudimentary canoes are the main means of transport for residents of Mali’s central and northern regions travelling to the towns scattered along the river.
Often powered by a van motor, they can sometimes carry tonnes of merchandise as well as more than 100 passengers, and accidents are frequent.
Ten people drowned in April after their vessel capsized in the town of Tienfala, about 30 kilometres from the capital Bamako.
A police source said the dugout canoe appeared to have encountered difficulties after being hit by “a violent wind” on the Niger, which bisects the town of around 5,000 in southwestern Mali.
Mali saw one of its worst ever river boat sinkings in October 2013 when more than 70 people, including many young children, drowned.