Dozens feared dead in Niger boat accident

Forty-three people, most of them from Benin, are missing after an overloaded boat sank in the Niger River, a local official said Thursday. The accident happened in Sambera, southwestern Niger, near the border with Benin, Sambera Mayor Oumarou Hassane told AFP. "Sixty-two people were saved and 43 others are missing, judging from the number of shoes that have been recovered," he said. They were aboard a canoe travelling from Gori-Beri in Benin to Ouna in Niger, he said. The vessel was carrying a large consignment of cereals and about a hundred Beninois and Nigerien traders heading to the market in Ouna, Hassane said.