At least 18 drown in Benin boat accident
2012-12-17 21:14
Cotonou - At least 18 people, most of them children, drowned after the
overloaded boat carrying them sank in a river north of Benin's commercial
capital Cotonou, officials said on Monday.
The boat was taking passengers across the Héélou River to a market in
the town of Togba when it capsized late on Saturday night.
"The boat that capsized had capacity for eight passengers but was
transporting 27, their baggage and four motorcycles," the mayor of the
nearby Abomey-Calavi district, Patrice Hounsou-Guede, told Reuters.
Benin's Interior Minister Benoit Degla suspended non-motorised traffic
on the river pending an investigation into the tragedy.
Boat accidents are common in much of West Africa, where poor road
conditions often make river travel the only viable means of transporting goods
and passengers. Enforcement of safety regulations is often lax.
At least 20 school children drowned in October when an overloaded ferry
sank on the Okpara River in northern Benin.
