Tragedy was narrowly averted in Ondo State on Sunday morning as a boat conveying election materials from Ese Odo local government area of the state hit a log and capsized, an official said.

According to the INEC returning officer for the local government, election officials were travelling in three separate boats when one suddenly had a mishap.

He said although all the officials thrown into the River were rescued, some of them suffered injuries.

He said some election materials, including card readers, were lost in the incident.

“But we thank God, there was no loss of life,” the official said.

The election officials were travelling from Ese Odo to Akure, the state capital, where collation of result of the state’s governorship election held Saturday is ongoing.

The returning officer said some election officials were held hostage in the area by hoodlums but were later released.

He said some ballot papers were hijacked while one was stuffed with ballot papers.

The All Progressives Congress won the election in the local government, scoring 10,700 votes.

The Peoples Democratic Party got 8,701 votes while the Alliance for Democracy clinched 3,562 votes.