10 drown as passenger boat capsizes in Lagos

10 persons died in a boat mishap on Sunday at Otto-Awori Local Council Development Area, LCDA of Lagos State, when a passenger boat conveying them from Idoluwo-Ile Village to Ikotun capsized at Imude area of the council.

Confirming the incidence, the General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Dr. Femi Oke-Osayintolu, said 10 passengers were missing after the incident.

He, however, said that five of the dead bodies had been recovered in a rescue operation carried out by his agency and Merchant Navy.

Wasiu Rasak, a Supervisory Councillor in Otto Awori LCDA, told journalists that the passenger boat was conveying people who had gone for the Eid-el-Kabir celebration in Idoluwo-Ile Village to Ikotun when the tragedy occurred.

The boat allegedly capsized when a wave hit it from a Julius Berger Speed Boat taking staff of the company to Under Bridge in Otto-Agbara.

Oke-Osanyintolu lamented that the passengers, who are mostly teenagers, were not putting on life jackets, which made them drown when the boat capsized.

The LASEMA boss said the agency had been warning people using such local boats to make use of life jackets for safety.