BY Ebunoluwa Olafusi
At least 25 people survived when two open fibre boats collided in Ojo area of Lagos state on Friday.
Damilola Emmmanuel, managing director of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), who confirmed the incident, said one of the boats was driving at full capacity with 22 passengers, while the other had just the captain and deckhand on board.
He said immediately the accident occurred, the patrol team at the Ojo terminal was able to move swiftly to rescue the situation.
”One boat was going from Liverpool to Ojo while the other was doing a return trip from same location,” he said.
”LASWA response team was able to rescue all passengers from the capsized boats and transported them to shore.
”No lives were lost.”
He added that the affected boats are presently in the custody of LASWA at the terminal until the conclusion of investigation into the cause of the collision.
He attributed the success of the rescue to the fact that they were all putting on life jackets.
”All passengers on boat were putting on life jackets. This is what we have been encouraging,” Emmanuel said.
”Our agency has been on the forefront of leading the campaign that for no reason should anyone embark on a journey on water without putting on a life jacket.
”We have also gone a step further to distribute life jackets to encourage boat operators to enforce it.”
He added that 1,500 life jackets were distributed between 2017 and January 2018. He said more would be distributed in the course of the year.
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