Eight people died and five were missing after a boat capsized on a river in Nangarhar, an official in this province in eastern Afghanistan told AFP on Tuesday.
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The boat was crossing a river in Koz Kunar district when the accident took place on Monday afternoon.
“There were 17 people on board. Eight died, four were rescued and five are missing,” said the head of the provincial Information Department, Quraishi Badloon.
“The boat capsized due to heavy rain,” he said.
Residents of this area cross the watercourse by boat regularly, in the absence of a bridge nearby.
In June, eight people died in a shipwreck in another district of Nangarhar.
Overloaded with passengers, the boat took on water and sank, explained the vice-governor of the province, Saeed Ahmad Banawri.