Boat accident: Pregnant women, engaged couple among victims

Punch reports:

No fewer than eight people have been confirmed dead, while 12 others were rescued in the boat accident involving a boat belonging to Bell Marine Services.

Among the dead were two pregnant women, a couple said to be preparing for their wedding next weekend and a 13-year-old girl.

The boat was said to have taken the passengers from their places of work at 5.34pm around Ebute Ero on the Lagos Island, en route the Majidun, Ikorodu area of Lagos State on Wednesday.

The boat was said to have capsized at the Oworonsoki area, due to overloading and speeding.

Our correspondent, who visited the Majidun jetty of the Bell Marine Services, saw relatives of the late intending couple.

An uncle of the groom, Isaac Akere, who identified himself as Mr. Ajibola Akere, said, “He and his fiancée were preparing for their wedding next weekend. I just sent him N40, 000 only few days ago as my contribution to the wedding.

“We have been to the mortuary where we saw the corpse of his fiancee, but we have not seen his own body. We need to recover his corpse, so we will know what next to do.”

Our correspondent saw a white Toyota Corolla, with registration number, Lagos APP 259 CN, at the jetty. The late Isaac was said to have parked it there before taking the boat in the morning.

A survivor, who identified herself as Mrs. Abimbola Bunmi, a shop keeper, said she was in the waters for over 30 minutes before she was rescued by a fisherman.

She said although she may have survived the accident, she had lost all her livelihood and had nowhere to go.

She said, “There were 25 of us in that boat. We took off around 5.34pm. The boat was overloaded and I complained to the boat captain but he would not listen.

“Again, he started speeding and we all raised the alarm that he should reduce his speed. He didn’t listen. What happened later was that the boat broke in the middle and capsized.

“After 30 minutes in the water, a fisherman came and helped me out. But where will I go? I had N350, 000 on me. Though I am alive, I am ruined.”

It was learnt that some of the passengers had life jackets on, but they reportedly sank into the water and drowned.

Our correspondent gathered that the Bell Marine Services could not provide the list of passengers on board because there was no manifest.

It was learnt that passengers usually pay a fare of N500 to travel on the water from Ikorodu to the Lagos Island, and find it convenient doing so due to the heavy traffic on the Ikorodu Road.

At the Ikorodu General Hospital where the bodies of the eight victims were said to have been deposited, our correspondent met the Managing Director of the hospital, Dr. Mobolaji Olukoya.

He said, “The victims were brought in two batches. First was a pregnant woman who was brought in around 6am. Her husband was in shock. He didn’t believe that she was dead and he was praying. It was around 10am that he finally received the news that she was dead. In actual fact, she was brought in dead.”

He said seven other victims, comprising six women and a man, were also brought in dead on arrival.

Our correspondent learnt from one of the security men at the morgue that there was another pregnant woman in the morgue apart from the first woman the managing director identified.

Many family members of victims were at the Ikorodu General Hospital morgue to collect the remains of their relatives.

One of them, Babatunde Ogunsiji, said his brother, Adewale, was also on the boat. Thirty five-year Adewale, who was married with a child, was said to be coming from work when he joined the boat.

The Lagos State Waterways Authority said immediately the incident happened, its men responded to a distress call from one of the witnesses.

A statement by the Managing Director, LASWA, Mr. Olayinka Marinho reads in part, “Investigations revealed that the boat, which departed from the Ebute-Ero jetty of the Lagos Island at about 5:30pm for the Majidun Jetty in Ikorodu hit a large object under the water in the course of the voyage. The impact damaged the hull of the boat and resulted into a high inflow of water, causing the boat to sink.

“The swift response of the LASWA rescue team to the scene of the mishap made it possible to rescue 13 passengers alive. The team also recovered six bodies trapped in the sunken vessel from the depth of the lagoon and immediately rushed them to the Ikorodu General Hospital where they were confirmed dead. A pregnant woman who was one of the 13 passengers rescued on board the boat eventually died at the General Hospital on arrival increasing the total number of deaths recorded to seven. The Search and Rescue mission also recovered some items belonging to the victims.”

The spokesperson of the National Emergency Management Agency, South West Zone, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, said rescue operation was ongoing to recover the bodies of other missing passengers.

Farinloye said, “As of last night, we learnt that eight died, 12 were alive and six were missing. Unfortunately, the operator of the boat, Mr. Ben Kalejaiye, said nobody was missing. But as we were about to close down the search, somebody turned up that his relative was missing, meaning that the search continues.”

The Managing Director of the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority, Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, said, “From investigations, we learnt that those who had their life jackets on were afraid. Instead of jumping into the water, they didn’t and that was how they sank.”