No fewer than three passengers have been recovered and 11 others rescued during a boat mishap along the Ibeshe/Ikorodu channel in Lagos State.
As gathered, the 17 seater boat named Oluwaseyifunmi, loaded with 14 passengers, was involved in an accident shortly after taken off from Addax jetty, Lagos.
It was gathered that the capsized boat and another passenger boat (yet to be identified) were engaging in speeding contest at about 7.17 pm yesterday, causing strong waves that capsized one of the boats while the other boat ran to Ibeshe jetty to call for help.
The Head, Public Affairs Unit, the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), Wuraola Alake, confirmed the development on Tuesday through a statement released and made available to newsmen.
According to the statement, Local operators from Ibeshe jetty were the first responders; the LASWA team joined immediately after in the rescue operations in which 11 passengers were rescued with three casualties.
“No Manifest was filled at the Addax Jetty before passengers boarded the boat but 9 out of the 11 rescued passengers later filled the manifest at the Ibeshe ferry terminal after they had been rescued while other 2 passengers refused to put down their details.
“LASWA and other first responders were able to rescue 11 alive while the 3 casualties were recovered and handed over to the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority LASEMA and the State Environmental Health Management Unit (SEHMU)”.
