One Dies, 27 Injured In Ikorodu Boat Accident

Twenty seven other passengers aboard the speedboat escaped death with varying degrees of injuries while a woman was confirmed dead on Wednesday after a commercial boat en route to Victoria Island, Lagos, from Ikorodu ran into a log of wood and capsized.


The victims were said to have been taken to the Ikorodu General Hospital and a private hospital in the area.

Sources learnt that the boat had carried 27 passengers – six above the number that was supposed to be on board, making it difficult to regain balance after it rammed into the wood around 10am, shortly after it took off from the Origin Jetty in Ikorodu.

The Lagos State Waterways Authority, however, said the boat had the capacity to carry 30 passengers.

Emergency agencies comprising LASWA, Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, the Lagos State Ambulance Service and the Nigeria Police Force converged on the scene to rescue the victims.

“The accident was caused by overloading. The operator would have been able to manoeuvre if he had the normal number of passengers on board. The corpse of the victim had been deposited in a morgue, while 27 persons who sustained injuries are receiving treatment in hospitals,” an emergency official said.

The Managing Director, LASWA, Mrs. Abisola Kamson, said it was unfortunate that the woman, whose identity had yet to be ascertained, died in the accident, adding that the agency had set new standard for boat operators to forestall recurrence.