2 dead, 8 rescued as another boat capsizes in Lagos

Exactly one week after the boat mishap at the Badore area
of Lagos claimed seven lives, another boat mishap at the
Badagry area of the state yesterday claimed two.
Although eight out of the 10 passengers onboard the boat
had been rescued as at press time, it was gathered that two
persons were yet to be rescued. The two missing persons
were identified as the driver of the canoe and a female
passenger, who had boarded the boat at the Idagba area.
It was gathered that the boat, which was conveying 10
passengers from Idagba to Iworo, capsized after it ran into a
log of wood. Thus, when the fibre passenger boat ran into
the log, it upturned and the passengers fell overboard into
the lagoon.
Confirming the incident, the National Emergency
Management Agency (NEMA), NEMA South-west
Spokesperson, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, said emergency
responders were immediately deployed to the scene.
He said: “Unlike the previous incident which was caused by
sand dredgers, this incident was happened because the boat
hit a log and capsized, upturning its passengers into the
water.
“The boat is called a fibre boat because it has engine. It
happened in Badagry. It so happened that the open canoe
hit a log while sailing, lost balance, and capsized with 10
passengers.
“Emergency responders like the Marine police, LASWA,
NIWA and local divers have rescued eight people alive 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 in 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.”
It would be recalled that the Badore incident, which was the
first boat incident for the year, initially recorded 13 survivors
and four dead, but the death toll later rose to seven dead.
While three were brought out dead, one of the victims, who
was part of the 14 persons rescued from the water, later
died in the hospital. The passenger boat was coming from
Ijede with 17 passengers onboard before it hit a sand dune
at Badore and capsized.