13 feared dead in boat mishap near Niger-Benin border

At least 13 people have lost their lives after a small boat capsized on the Niger River, which serves as a natural boundary between Niger and Benin. The tragic incident was confirmed by local sources on Thursday.

Despite the closure of the land border by Niger’s military government nearly two years ago—following allegations that Benin was attempting to destabilize the country, a claim Benin has strongly denied—residents from both nations have continued to rely on the river for daily transportation of people and goods.

“There were 13 killed and some survivors,” a resident of Gaya, a Nigerien town bordering Benin, told AFP, referring to the boat’s capsizing on Wednesday. According to local media reporting the same casualty figure, a rescue effort was ongoing.

“The pirogue (small boat) was carrying essentially Nigeriens. It overturned between Gaya in Niger and the town of Malanville (in Benin),” another resident of Gaya told AFP. The source estimated “around 10 dead.”

The exact cause of the accident remains unknown. However, similar tragedies have occurred on the Niger River, where pirogues small wooden canoes are commonly used for transportation and often exceed safe capacity limits.

In one such incident in August 2023, two out of six passengers died when a pirogue sank. In an earlier case in February 2019, at least 43 people, including several children, drowned when an overloaded boat carrying grain and traders capsized.