UPDATED: 22 Sudanese primary school children drown after boat sinks in Nile
Wed Aug 15, 2018 02:49:pm Africa
6.1K By Obiaks Blog
Twenty-two children and a teacher have died in Sudan are a boat capsized about 750km (470 miles) north of the capital Khartoum.
The boat was crossing a flooded area near the River Nile.
Ab el-Khayr Adam Yunis, the headmaster of the Kenba High School, told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme how the accident happened:
"The boat's engine broke down after it hit a tree trunk, the children panicked and leaned to one side and it capsized."
"Those who died were mostly girls. One family lost five daughters, and another three families lost two children each, and two families lost three children each."
The headmaster said the pupils used to go to school on foot, but over the last week had been using a boat to cross a distance of about 2.5km because of flooding after heavy rain.
He said he had difficulty reporting the accident as the telephone network had been down because of the rains.
He said as soon as the phones started working they contacted all the big towns nearby - Abu Hamad, Karima and Ed-Damer – but after five hours were still waiting for help.
BBC Africa Sudan expert Mohanad Hashim says residents in the area, mostly from the Manaseer ethnic group, have long been raising concerns about the flooding blamed on the construction of a controversial dam.
BBC
The boat was crossing a flooded area near the River Nile.
Ab el-Khayr Adam Yunis, the headmaster of the Kenba High School, told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme how the accident happened:
"The boat's engine broke down after it hit a tree trunk, the children panicked and leaned to one side and it capsized."
"Those who died were mostly girls. One family lost five daughters, and another three families lost two children each, and two families lost three children each."
The headmaster said the pupils used to go to school on foot, but over the last week had been using a boat to cross a distance of about 2.5km because of flooding after heavy rain.
He said he had difficulty reporting the accident as the telephone network had been down because of the rains.
He said as soon as the phones started working they contacted all the big towns nearby - Abu Hamad, Karima and Ed-Damer – but after five hours were still waiting for help.
BBC Africa Sudan expert Mohanad Hashim says residents in the area, mostly from the Manaseer ethnic group, have long been raising concerns about the flooding blamed on the construction of a controversial dam.
BBC
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