14 Farmers Die, Many Missing as Boat Capsize in Taraba

14 Farmers Die, Many Missing as Boat Capsize in Taraba Musa Rhapsodi Affos Tragedy struck as not fewer than Fourteen farmers reportedly died and several missing in Gwamtamu village of Gassol LG of Taraba State following a boat mishap while trying to harvest their crops from flooded farmland. It was gathered that the farmers were said to be from different villages located close to River Benue, and were inside 12 canoes paddling round to harvest their maize which was submerged by water when their canoes capsized as a result of heavy rainfall and strong wind. A community source, Nadabo Karal, who narrated how the incident occurred, said there were about 50 farmers inside the canoes, adding that only 15 bodies were recovered while many were still missing. According to him, the incident was the worst which involved farmers in the area, adding that out of the dead bodies recovered, two were of the same parents. As of the time of filling this report, the Taraba state police public relations officer, DSP Usman Abdullahi is yet to confirm the incident. According to him, he was yet to receive a report of the incident from the divisional officer in Gassol. Rhapsodi Affos Blog (RAB) reports that this is the second boat mishap happening in the state within a range of two weeks. The first was in Ibbi LG which claimed three lives.