Calabar Boat Accident: 3 Medical Students still missing 24 hours after
Thirteen students from different Universities across the country who were members of the Nigerian Medical Students Association (NiMSA) embarked on a thrilling boat tour at the Calabar River near the Marina Resort, Cross River State has been reported drowning while three is still missing in the process as their boat capsizes.
Unfortunately, their exciting adventure took a tragic turn as their vessel capsized on Saturday, leaving all 13 students onboard missing.
Sources revealed that the boat capsized around 3 pm, while some of these promising medical students, who had traveled from various universities across the country participated in the annual NiMSA Health Week in Calabar.
According to an anonymous insider from the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), a group of students embarked on a social excursion to discover the city of Calabar.
The statement stated further that the mishap occurs when they visited the Slave Trade section of the Resort and were drowning as the boat capsized.
Sadly, three of the students have gone missing, including two from Amadu Bello University in Zaria and one from the University of Uyo in Akwa Ibom State.
Sources close to the NIMS had it that,” The Medical School in Calabar is hosting this year’s health week, so students across Medical schools in Nigeria came to Calabar just to have their annual health week, so in the cause of doing their social activities, the plan was for them to go to Marina and visit the Slave Trade and all that but few of the students decided to go on a boat cruise and it happened that when they were coming back to move to Tinapa for their normal social activities, the boat capsized.
“There were 14 persons onboard including the driver of the boat, 11 of them came out safely while three are still missing. Two are from Amadu Bello University and one is from the University of Uyo. They have been trying to see how they can retrieve their bodies because they cannot find them. They are saying we should come tomorrow and get their floating bodies, that is what is on the ground for now.”
According to an eyewitness account, it has been purported that the students in question were not donning proper life-saving gear at the time of the unfortunate occurrence.
Accordingly, a reliable source from the Nigerian Navy disclosed that “The boat capsized due to the high wave on the Calabar Chan,nel and the 14 passengers, including the driver were emptied into the water. But the fortunate thing is that the Nigeria Navy patrol teams were nearby. So their divers were able to save the other 11-students who were about to perish in the tragic incident”
Maintaining that their team is currently present within the area of the mishap, diligently exploring any potential means to rescue the remaining three individuals. Despite this arduous task, the search and rescue operation is still ongoing. Numerous attempts to contact the Police Public Relations Officer, Irene Ugbo, were unfortunately unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.
