Tragedy
struck Tuesday night in Festac Town, Lagos, when a boat mishap killed 18
persons in a canal. 13 bodies have been recovered. Five persons were rescued by
local divers.
Among
those that lost their lives were three siblings, identified as Timothy, a
student of Festac Junior Grammar School; Joshua and Paul, both primary school
pupils.
Others
include the 10-year-old boat handler and a local diver whose bid to rescue the
helpless passengers failed. The incident occurred Tuesday at 8pm, following
apparent overloading.
The
wooden boat, which usually conveyed passengers between the 4th and 6th avenue,
was built to carry 12 passengers. But it reportedly was conveying 24 passengers
when the accident occurred.
Eyewitnesses
told Vanguard that the number of casualties would have been minimal had
help come on time.
It
was learnt that football lovers at a viewing centre, who were going to take the
boat to their respective homes, discovered those who managed to swim to the
shore and raised alarm.
I warned them— Survivor
One
of the survivors, a woman who does not want her name in print said she warned
the boat boy and passengers about overloading.
She
said: “When I saw that the number of persons was more than the boat could
ordinarily take, I warned the paddler and passengers about it.
“I
even asked them to get down that the boat would come again to take them. When
they refused I told them I would have nothing to lose if any disaster happened
because I could swim.
“I
was shouting at the top of my voice that those who could not swim should get
down when I noticed the boat was sort of wobbling.
“We
had barely taken off when the first sign occurred. Before we knew what was
happening, the boat capsized. I was the first person to swim out of the canal
to the sixth avenue end. I could not save anyone because it was dark.”
It
was gathered that two other men swarm to the 4th avenue end and passed out from
exhaustion.
How boat boy died
The
10-year-old boat boy, as gathered, attempted to also swim to safety. But two of
the drowning passengers reportedly held unto him in a bid to save themselves.
This led to his death. His body was also among those recovered yesterday.
When
Vanguard visited late Timothy’s school, Festac Junior Grammar School,
the school was having its annual inter-house sports.
Contacted,
the South West Information Officer of the National Emergency Management
Authority NEMA, Ibrahim Farinloye, confirmed that 13 bodies, comprising those
of 11 men, a woman and a baby had so far been recovered.
Rescued
He
gave the identities of those rescued alive as Samuel Ochina, Joseph Essien,
Mane Temisan, Etukow Godfrey and Davis Peter.
He
attributed the mishap to absence of a link bridge, adding that tragedy would
have been avoided if there was a link bridge. He added that none of the
passengers was wearing a life jacket.
Farinloye
and the General Manager Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Femi
Oke-Osanyintolu, said they got a distress call around 11pm.
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