Emmanuel Thomas
July 1, 2015 – At least 6 children have been killed and nine others rescued when a ferryboat ran into a canoe conveying the children and others along the Lagos waterways.
We gathered that the boat capsized when a fibre boat ran into the canoe at Ojo area of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria. The boat was said to be conveying 14 children when the tragedy occurred. By the time of filing the report, six children among the passengers were still missing.
Confirming the incident, General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu said the incident occurred around 9.00am on Wednesday.
He said the tragedy occurred at Irewe area when a fibre boat collided with a canoe conveying 14 children to their destination.
Oke-Osanyintolu disclosed that eight children and the driver had been rescued alive, with five of them presently at Igando General Hospital, while three of them have been discharged and are now home.
He said six other children were still missing and that rescue operation is still on to remove the children from the water.
The LASEMA boss lamented that the children were not putting on live jacket when the accident occurred, saying that the rescue operation was carried out by the Local Emergency Committee led by the Executive Secretary of Ojo Local Government.
He stated that LASEMA officials and others were still combing the water to see if they could get the other children. Oke-Osanyintolu appealed to water operators to always make live jacket available to passengers in order to minimise loss of lives whenever boat capsized.
