A local official confirmed that at least 18 people were killed when a boat capsized in the Far North region of Cameroon, carrying passengers to a market.

The accident happened on Thursday, on the waterways that lead to Darak, a district in the Lake Chad Basin, near the border of Chad. Due to seasonal flooding, boats are the only way of traveling around the island.

Mamat Zarma said that the boat capsized when violent winds blew it over.

Zarma, a Zarma spokeswoman, told reporters by phone that so far we had recovered the bodies from five women and thirteen men. She also said the number of passengers aboard the plane at the time of accident was not known.

He stated that search and rescue efforts were underway to locate other missing persons.

A similar incident happened two weeks ago in Goulfey. In that case, a canoe built locally, carrying 30 passengers, capsized and four people died. Others are still missing.

Floods have been caused by heavier-than-usual rains that are usually associated with the season in West and Central Africa, including Darak and Goulfey in Cameroon’s Logone division and Chari, which includes Darak.

Locals are forced to use water transportation to get around. However, the lack of canoes leads to overcrowding and boat accidents.

The rainy season has ended in a large area of West and Central Africa. However, many countries still have to deal with the aftermath of the floods, which caused the deaths of more than 1,520 people and affected 7.2 million other people. As of November 20, the U.N. agency for humanitarian affairs, OCHA, reported that 960,000 hectares had been submerged by the flooding. (Editing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing By Alex Richardson).

(source: Reuters)