Seven persons, all women, have reportedly drowned following a boat accident which occurred at Gelegele River in Ovia South West Local Government Area of Edo State. The victims were said to have drowned when the boat carrying 28 passengers capsized after it rammed into oil barges that belong to a multi-national oil exploration company that were allegedly wrongly moored at Gelegele, a small riverine community about 35 kilometres from Benin City, the Edo State Capital. The mishap reportedly occurred last week Thursday morning when the passenger boat carrying mainly market women, including children from Ofunama community stopped at Gelegele to drop some passengers. The boat operator was said to have discovered that it ran out of fuel and in the process of refuelling, boat was pushed by heavy water current which rammed it against the barges, an accident officials of the local government and members of the community said it could have been avoided. It learnt that some of the survivors were brought out from under the barges by the men of the Marine Police stationed in Gelegele.