Sixteen passengers have been declared missing following a boat misharp in Lagos.
On Friday night the boat reportedly capsized on the waterways around the Mile 2 area of Lagos State.
It would be recalled that two persons lost their lives about three days ago when a boat accident occured around Ikorodu area of the state
Confirming the latest boat misharp, the Lagos Area Manager of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Sarat Braimah, in a statement on Saturday, disclosed that the sixteen passengers on board of the boat could not yet be found.
She said: “At about 7.45 p.m., on 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 axis broke the waterways rules of late travelling by setting sail at 7.45 p.m.
“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) 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.”
Braimah, who further disclosed that the tide of the water drifted the boat to a stationary barge and ade it to capsize, said the boat is currently in the custody of Marine Police.
