Provincial official: Twenty drown in boat accident in eastern Afghanistan – World

Twenty people, including children, drowned on Saturday when a boat sank during a river crossing in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province, a provincial official said.

“A boat carrying women and children sank in the river in Basawul area of ​​Momand Dara district in eastern Nangarhar at 7am on Saturday morning,” Quraishi Badloon, the head of the provincial information department, said in a post on social media platform X.

He said five people survived the accident, the cause of which is under investigation.

Nangarhar’s Information and Culture Ministry said in a statement sent to the media that authorities had sent a medical team and ambulances to the area.

At least five bodies have been recovered and efforts are underway to find the rest, provincial government officials said.

Residents in the area regularly cross the river in boats, which are often in poor condition as there is no bridge nearby, local media reported.