Abo
ut 8 people died on Wednesday and 12 others rescued after a boat capsized between Eko Bridge and Ikorodu waterways in Lagos State, Nigeria’s South-West region.
Local divers were said to have jumped into the water and rescued some people, while the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) officials along with men of the Nigerian Navy and the Marine policemen patrolled the water in a bid to recover more bodies.
According to NEMA’s PRO, Ibrahim Farinloye, the boat took off from Ebute to Majidun in Ikorodu with 20 people on board and the incident occurred at about 6 PM. 12 people were rescued alive and eight died. He also revealed that as at that time six people were missing.
He noted that the boat is operated by Bell Marine Services and the management of Bell Marine Services had announced on Thursday that all occupants on the boat had been recused.
Mr. Farinloye further stated that two people out of the twelve rescued were receiving treatment at the Ikorodu General Hospital.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Commissioner for Transport, Kayode Opeifa, told Channels Television that the accident may have been caused by underwater obstacles which led to the boat capsizing. He could not confirm if human error had led to the incident but disclosed that investigations were on.
He also disclosed that one person was still missing.
Mr Opeifa further assured that the government was spending time on dredging the waterways and installing buoys to show drivers the correct waterways.
Despite the allegations by survivors of the boat accident of late rescue operations, the Lagos state Waterways Authority insisted it responded to the distress call on time.
The managing director of the agency, Mr Yinka Marinho said that the state government usually carried out constant safety awareness campaigns and tests for operators as well as their boats.
