At least 20 persons were burnt to death when the engine of a wooden market boat popularly known as 'Denghe market boat' exploded along Ezetu Community river in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

It was learnt that the incident occurred on Wednesday evening.

The police spokesman in Bayelsa State, ASP Musa Muhammed, who confirmed the incident to Daily Trust on Thursday, said rescue operations were ongoing to recover the drowned passengers of the ill-fated boat.

He said: "The local boat travelling from Ekeni community in Southern Ijaw to Yenagoa had an accident and sank. About 20 persons were reported to have lost their lives. Efforts are ongoing to recover their corpses."

According to a community source, the unfortunate incident occurred around 4:30pm on Wednesday when the local boat conveying passengers and market women was gutted by fire en route from Ezetu Community.

The Chairman of Maritime Workers Union in Bayelsa State, Mr Ipgansi Ogoniba, who also confirmed the boat accident, said the local boat ccaught fire in the middle of the river while it was sailing to Okubie community and burnt some of the passengers onboard.

The number of casualties could not be ascertained at the time of filing the report as search and rescue operation is ongoing.

But Ogoniba said the rescue team from the union that went to the scene recovered one corpse late Wednesday evening.

He said: "The boat left Ezetu 1 community around 3pm. As they were coming to Okubie, the onboard engine they were using caught fire and exploded. So the boat got burnt and sank. Some of the people onboard were drowned. There was no network at that point to reach the rescue team from Yenagoa, because that wooden boat always takes about 18 hours to reach Yenagoa from that point."

The chairperson of Association of Coastal and Waterways Communities of Nigeria in Bayelsa State, Comrade Odede Dinikpete Tina, ascribed the high casualty figures to the failure of the boat operators in the state to abide by safety protocols especially wearing of life jacket while onboard.

She pleaded with the state government to intensify efforts in linking more coastal communities by road in order to curb incessant loss of lives, adding that despite several sensitization programmes the association had carried out on safety protocols, people travelling on waterways still refused to wear life jackets.