At least 16 Passengers have been declared missing as another boat capsized on the waterways around the Mile 2 area of Lagos state.
It comes three days after a boat accident around the Ikorodu area leading to the death of two passengers.
Lagos area manager, National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Sarat Braimah, in a statement on Saturday confirmed that the accident occurred on Friday night.
“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,” Braimah said.
“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.”
He noted that the tide of the water drifted the boat to a stationary barge and caused it to overturn.
“It is said that all passengers on board, including children, were not all putting on their life jackets,” she added.
“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.”