Two persons died on Saturday in another boat accident in Badary area of Lagos.
The incident came barely one week after seven persons lost their lives in a similar incident that occurred at Ijede, Ikorodu area of the state.
In yesterday’s accident, eight passengers and two crew members were aboard the boat which left Ebute Iworo in Ajido in the morning enroute Daddy Luwi when it reportedly hit logs of wood midway into its journey and capsized.
Eight persons were rescued although with injuries while the driver and a yet-to-be identified woman are yet to be found.
Only four of the injured were said to have their life jackets on at the time of the accident.
The injured were treated by the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS).
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) confirmed the incident.
NEMA’s Southwest spokesperson, Ibrahim Farinloye said emergency workers were immediately deployed to the scene.
He said: “Unlike the previous incident which was caused by sand dredgers, this incident happened because the boat hit a log of wood and capsized, upturning its passengers into the water.
“The boat is called a fibre boat because it has an engine. It happened in Badagry. It happened that the open canoe hit a log while sailing, lost balance and capsized with 10 people onboard.
“Emergency responders like the Marine police, LASWA, NIWA and local divers have rescued eight people while the search for a woman and the driver of the canoe continues.
“The correct figure of those rescued alive is eight. Also, out of the eight, only four wore life jackets while others did not.
“The issues are being handled at the Marine Police Office, Badagry. The canoe took off from Idagba with 10 passengers and dropped them at Iworo and picked eight passengers at Iworo to go back before it had the problem,” he said.
Comments