Lagos disaster: Death toll climbs as fresh corpse found in capsized boat

Death toll has increased from the boat crash in the Ikorodu axis of Lagos as the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) says it has recovered an additional corpse from the scene of the tragedy.

Wuraola Alake, the spokeswoman for LASWA, disclosed this in an update on the crash on Tuesday.

She said, “In continuation of the search and rescue operations on the current mishap involving Oluwaseyifunmi boat, one additional corpse has been recovered along with the submerged boat from the scene of the incident.

“The exact cause of this incident is still being investigated, as some of the rescued passengers denied the claim that the affected boats were engaged in boat racing.

“The passenger at the Addax Jetty filled out no manifest before passengers boarded the boat, but nine out of the 11 rescued passengers later filled out the manifest at the Ibeshe ferry terminal after LASAWA and other first responders had rescued them,” said Ms Alake.

The LAWA official added, “At the same time, the other two passengers refused to put down their details. Eleven passengers were confirmed to be alive, while the recovered casualties have been handed over to the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority LASEMA and the State Environmental Health Management Unit SEHMU.”

The ill-fated boat capsized along the Ibeshe-Ikorodu channel en route Ebute Ipakodo Ikorodu at about 7:17 p.m. on Monday.

It had taken off from Addax jetty, Lagos, as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria.

Ms Alake had announced the recovery of three casualties alongside the rescue of 11 passengers while search and rescue operations continued.