ABIDJAN, April 22, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - A boat overturned during a church outing 
for Easter on a lagoon near the city of Abidjan in Ivory Coast, killing 12 
children and teenagers, a government minister told AFP Tuesday.

"Twelve bodies have been recovered and are being taken to the morgue," said 
Sports Minister Adje Silas Metch, who went during the night to the site of 
the accident late Monday.

The bodies are "of children and adolescents", he added, saying one was a 
youngster who was not from the church but had joined the boat crossing.

"Four people were rescued," he said.

Young people from the village of Tiaha had gone to another village to take 
part in the "Galilee" event to mark the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The outing was organised by a Methodist church in Tiaha, about 60 kilometres 
(40 miles) from the economic capital, Abidjan, Gerard Gbato, deputy chief of 
the Dabou police district, told AFP.

"It was on the way back that the tragedy happened. The canoe's engine stopped 
at one point, the canoe overturned," he said.

It is possible the boat was overloaded, he added.

Police have opened an investigation.

Gbato said that such dugout canoes with an engine were commonly used by the 
local community.

The lagoon winds between the districts of Abidjan and the towns surrounding 
the metropolis of more than six million inhabitants.