Commercial Passenger Boat Capsizes in Lagos - 3 drowned, 12 injured!

Three people drowned today, while 12 others narrowly escaped death, as a commercial passenger boat capsized around Aloro village, on the Lagos Island.

Two of the drowned victims had been identified simply as Jimmy and Segun, with their other names unknown. Efforts were, as of Thursday afternoon, still going on to recover the body of the third drowned occupant of the boat.

The accident reportedly occurred around 4.00 a.m., when the passengers, mostly traders and factory workers were hurrying to meet the office resumption time. A police source at the Marine Section of the Lagos State police command stated that the commercial speedboat had taken off from Kirikiri and was heading to Aloro village, when the accident happened.

The source, who pleaded anonymity, further added that the boat had left Kirikiri and was midstream when the boat developed what was suspected to be a mechanical fault before capsizing, throwing all the passengers on board into the lagoon. Eight of the passengers were, however, rescued by local fishermen who were contacted.

The corpses of Jimmy and Segun were also recovered by the local fishermen and divers, assisted by men of the Marine Section of the Lagos State police command. The spokesman for the state police command, Samuel Jinadu, confirmed the boat accident and added that the remains of the recovered victims of the accident had been deposited at the mortuary.

The Lagos police spokesperson also stated that efforts were still on to see if there was still any drowned body in the water.