BY: News Peddlers
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Four passengers’ bodies out of 16 including children, that went missing after their boat capsized were said to have been recovered and 12 others are yet to be accounted for.
The mishap happened when the passenger fibre boat en route Ibeshe axis of Ojo, Lagos state hits a stationary barge along the Mile 2 waterways which caused the boat to overturn.
The tragedy occurred on Friday after the boat captain left the terminal some minutes past 7pm, breaking the waterways rules of late travelling set by the government.
The rescue team revealed that the four bodies were recouped from the water by the team from government agencies that responded to the distress calls.
Ibrahim Farinloye the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) spokesperson, revealed that only two bodies have been recovered from the waters.
Farinloye added that 52-year-old male and 20-year-old female bodies were recovered during the ongoing operations and that efforts have been enhanced on Saturday to check for survivors and to recover more bodies.
Other agencies engaging in the rescue operations were said to be the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), National Inland Waterways (NIWA) Nigerian Marine Police and the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA).
Confirming the accident, both NIWA and LASWA through statements released and made available to newsmen, said: “At about 7.45 today the 8th of July 2022, The National Inland Waterways Authority and Lagos State waterways authority received a distress call of an incident on the waterways.
“The Boat going from Mile 2 to Ibeshe in Ojo axis broke the waterways rules of late travelling by setting sail at 7.45pm. As he set out, the tide of the water drifted the boat to a stationary barge which caused the boat to overturn. It is said that all passengers on board including children were not all putting on their life jackets”.
“The Search and Rescue team of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), National Inland Waterways (NIWA) Nigerian Marine Police and the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) were immediately mobilized to the scene of the incident but unfortunately could only find the boat after several hours while efforts are still ongoing to locate the victims.
“The Boat is currently in the custody of Marine Police. The Boat Captain is also unaccounted for as at the time of this press release”, they added.
A similar incident occurs three ago in Ikorodu area of Lagos State which led to the death of two passengers in the state.