Three persons have been reported dead after a commercial boat capsized in the Badagry area of Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria.
Gatekeepers News reports that 17 other passengers, including three children, were reduced by the marine police.
The Nigerian News Agency (NAN) said the boat, which developed a mechanical fault, had taken off from Liverpool area on Wednesday but capsized at Imoba near Ajido on the Badagry waterway.
“As the boat stopped suddenly, it capsized, throwing all the passengers on board into the water,” a police source said.
“It was at this point that the marine police on the waterway patrol came to rescue them.
“At the end of operation, 17 passengers including three children were rescued while three of them died in the water.”
The officer added that two of the three bodies were retrieved for burial by the families of the victims.
“Only one out of the three corpses was deposited at the mortuary of the General Hospital in Badagry,” he said.
The incident was also confirmed by the Medical Director of the Badagry General Hospital, Tunde Bakare who said one corpse in relation to the boat incident was deposited at the mortuary.
“We don’t know about the remaining two corpses but the only woman they brought was dead and she is now in the mortuary,” he said.
Although, the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) is yet to comment on the incident.
