A local boat carrying mostly Sierra Leonean traders sank in the river early Tuesday while returning from market day in Nongowa, Guinea. The accident happened on the border with Kailahun District in eastern Sierra Leone.
The District Security Coordinator, Josephine Wuya Fatorma, told AYV that one woman and one young girl have been confirmed dead so far. Several other people are still missing.
She said 35 people were rescued. Of those, 31 are still in Nongowa and four are receiving treatment in Koindu.
Guinean rescue teams led the effort. They used boats and divers. Sierra Leonean soldiers, police and the Red Cross also helped. The river is in the Yenga area, which both countries claim but Guinea currently controls.
Madam Fatorma said a joint security meeting was planned for the next day. The 31 people in Nongowa would then be brought across and handed over to Sierra Leonean officials.
She said “several others” were still missing but could not give an exact number because the survivors were too shocked and upset to give clear details.
Guinean reports say the accident happened around 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 15 September 2026, on the Makona River (also called the Moa River). The boat was a motorised pirogue crossing from Nongoa (Nongowa) in Guinea’s Guéckédou area into Sierra Leone. Most passengers were Sierra Leonean traders coming back from the weekly market. The boat started taking on water in the middle of the river and then capsized.
Local Guinean authorities said about 43 people were on board. They rescued 41. A woman and a child of about one and a half years old died. One person was still missing.
The mayor of Nongoa rural commune, Tamba Gabriel Bongono, said many passengers were wearing life jackets and that helped save lives.
Search and recovery work continued. Officials are still looking into exactly why the boat sank. Cross-border market trade on this route is common for people from Kailahun and nearby areas of Guinea.
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