Several dead and missing after boat sinks in Nigeria’s Anambra state

At least 16 people died and another 60 are missing after a boat capsized in Nigeria’s southeastern Anambra state, officials said on Saturday.

The vessel, with 85 people on board, capsized amid heavy flooding, trapping the passengers, Thickman Tanimu, zonal coordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency, told Reuters agency.

Anambra state Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo said in a statement that 16 people had drowned.

The head of Anambra State Emergency Management Agency said 15 people had been rescued as of Saturday evening.

Anambra is among the 29 of Nigeria’s 36 states to have experienced heavy flooding this year. The waters have washed away homes, crops and roads and impacted at least half a million people.