July 09, (THEWILL) – At least 16 passengers and a captain have been declared missing after a W19 passenger Fibre boat capsized along the Ojo area of Lagos State on Friday night.
This is coming barely three days after two passengers died in a similar incident around the Ikorodu area of the State.
Lagos Area Manager, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Mrs Sarat Braimah, confirmed the incident in a statement on Saturday.
Braimah said that 16 passengers on board the ill-fated boat were yet to be accounted for.
She said: “At about 7:45 pm, July 8, the National Inland Waterways Authority and Lagos State Waterways Authority received a distress call of an incident on the waterways.
“A W19 passenger Fibre boat carrying 16 people capsized along the Ojo area of the state.
“The boat going from Mile 2 to Ibeshe in Ojo, broke the waterways rules of late travelling by setting sail at 7.45 p.m.”
Braimah said that the tide of the water drifted the boat to a stationary barge which caused it to overturn.
“It is said that all passengers on board including children were all not wearing their life jackets.
“The search and rescue team of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), National Inland Waterways (NIWA) were immediately mobilised to the scene of the incident, but unfortunately could only find the boat after several hours.
“Efforts are still ongoing to locate the victims. The Boat Captain is also unaccounted for, as at the time of this press release”, she said.
Braimah noted that the boat was currently in the custody of Marine Police.
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