Fifteen people have been killed and one is missing following a passenger boat was swept away by the tide and capsized in Nigeria’s economic capital Lagos, emergency services said on Sunday.
The tragedy occurred on Friday evening, two days following the death of two people in another boat accident in this city of more than 20 million inhabitants.
“There were 16 passengers on board at the time of the accident,” Ibrahim Farinloye, of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), told AFP.
According to him, four bodies were found on Saturday, and on Sunday the rescue services recovered 11 other bodies. The sixteenth passenger had not been found Sunday followingnoon.
According to Sarat Braimah, regional director of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), the boat “has broken the rules […] regarding late travel by setting sail at 7:45 p.m.”.
The tide caused the boat to drift and then capsize, she said, adding that the passengers did not have life jackets.
The city of Lagos has developed on a lagoon site bordering the Atlantic Ocean.
Boat accidents — often overloaded and poorly maintained — are common on Nigerian waterways, especially during the rainy season.
On Wednesday, two people were killed and 15 others rescued when their boat capsized in Ikorodu, outside Lagos.
