March 4, 2003	Tuesday	Zul Hijjah 30, 1423

KANO (Nigeria), March 3: More than 80 people are reported missing two days after a boat sank crossing the Niger River in northern Nigeria, a state spokesman told AFP on Monday.

Kebbi State spokesman Abdullahi Zuru said nine bodies and five survivors had been recovered from a boat said to have been carrying 100 people on Saturday when it hit a rock and capsized.

“It’s too early to ascertain the number of people who died in the mishap, but survivors from the wreck said that the boat was carrying about 100 passengers to a local market,” he said.

“A head count of all the households in the community will have to be carried out to find out how many people died,” he said, speaking by telephone from the state capital.

Witnesses told local radio that the boat was overloaded with goods. —AFP