There has been palpable tension since yesterday evening as a W19 boat carrying 16 passengers including children capsized along the Ojo area of Lagos yesterday.
According to a statement issued by the Management of the Lagos State Waterways Authority, LASWA in Lagos on Saturday, the Authority as well as the National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA received a distress call concerning the incident at about 7.45pm on Friday 8th July, 2022.
The statement explained that the boat going from Mile 2 to Ibeshe in Ojo axis broke the waterways rules of late travelling by setting sail at 7pm.
“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 which includes 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”, the statement read.
However, unconfirmed report has it that four bodies had been recovered from the scene of the incident while search and rescue operation was still ongoing.
It will be recalled that a-19 passenger boat carrying 17 passengers had on the 6th July, 2022 capsized in Lagos killing two passengers while fifteen others were rescued alive.
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