Medical Students Drown In Calabar Boat Cruise

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT – A Boat cruise has gone awry in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, with three medical students reportedly drowned in the waterways of the South South State.

According to reports, the three were among 14 students from different medical schools in Nigeria who undertook the holiday expedition that unfortunately turned tragic.

Sources hinted that divers from the Nigerian Navy (NN) were on hand to avert more deaths as they successfully rescued 11 of the students after the boat capsized Saturday afternoon.

It was gathered that the students were among those who had gathered at the Medical School Calabar to celebrate the 2023 Nigeria Medical Association Health Week (NMAHW).

Not wanting his name to appear on print, an official of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Cross River State chapter confirmed the unfortunate incident, saying that the three students lost in the tragic boat cruise were from University of Uyo (UniUyo) and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria

Speaking to some reporters on the incident, the grieving official said; “The 2023 Nigeria Medical Association Health Week and the Medical School in Calabar is hosting this year’s health week. Students across medical schools in Nigeria came to Calabar just to have their annual health week.

“As part of their social activities, the plan was to go to Marina Resort and visit the Slave History Museum. Some of the students decided to go on a boat cruise. The boat capsized when they were about moving to the popular Tinapa axis.

“There were 14 persons, including the boat driver on board. Eleven of them came out safely while three of them – two from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and one from University of Uyo – drowned.”

The official, who disclosed that the timely intervention of Nigerian Navy personnel prevented a higher casualty figure, further said; “The Navy has been trying to see how they can retrieve their bodies. They told us to come tomorrow (Sunday) perhaps the bodies would have floated by then.”

Competent sources around the incident scene explained that the boat was reportedly unsettled by powerful high waves as soon as it left the Marina Resort jetty on the ill-fated journey.

Giving a perspective to the possible cause of the sad incident, a source from the Nigerian Navy Ship “Victory” stated that; “The boat capsized due to the high wave on the Calabar Channel and the 14 passengers, including the driver were involved.

“Fortunately, the Nigerian Navy patrol teams were nearby so their divers were able to rescue 11 of the passengers, thereby averting more deaths in the process.”

As of the time of filing this report, the Naval personnel and some professional divers were still in the waters, working hard to see possibility of rescuing the missing students or recovering their remains.