Seven schoolgirls perish in Guinea after a boat capsizes

BBC || Shining BD

Published: 6/5/2023 5:42:25 AM

According to the education minister, at least seven schoolgirls from Guinea drowned on Sunday after the long wooden boat they were riding in capsized.

In order to participate in the Monday-starting high school entrance exams, the girls were crossing the Niger River in northeastern Guinea, West Africa.

While visiting the area to kick off exam season, Guillame Hawing, minister for literacy and pre-university education, told journalists, "We are struck by this bad news that seven students lost their lives."

Security guard Mamadi Keita told AFP that his half-sister was among the fatalities.

For the initial assessments for their entrance exam into their seventh year of school, she and her classmates traveled to the other side of the Niger River.

He sobbed over the phone, "They boarded an overloaded pirogue which sank under the weight of passengers and goods."

Under the condition of anonymity, a local source told AFP that the death toll was preliminary and that there were still bodies missing.

Shining BD