By Saidu Jalloh, Daily Scope Reporter
A routine weekly market return turned deadly Tuesday when a motorized pirogue capsized on the Makona River at the Nongoa crossing on the Guinea–Sierra Leone border.
A woman and her 18-month-old child were confirmed dead, and a Guinean soldier remains missing. Rescuers pulled 41 survivors from the water out of 43 people registered on board.
The boat was heading from the Nongoa market in Guinea to Sierra Leone around 2 p.m. when it began taking on water mid-river, according to Guinean authorities. Most passengers were Sierra Leonean market women.
Tamba Gabriel Bongono, Mayor of the Nongoa rural commune, said panic broke out on board.
“At one point, there was panic on board. Most were women, and the pirogue overturned,” Mayor Bongono told Guinéenews.
One account said the engine failed mid-crossing and the current dragged the pirogue into a tree before it overturned.
Mayor Bongono credited life jackets with preventing a larger death toll. “What helped us a lot is that the passengers were wearing life jackets,” he said.
Search efforts were still underway Tuesday evening for the missing soldier, described as a Guinean agent.
The accident has renewed safety concerns over the Makona River, a busy daily trade route between the two countries, with questions over the boat’s condition, capacity, and safety compliance.
The cause of the water infiltration is under investigation.
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