The boat, belonging to Aquitien Oil and Gas Limited, was said to have taken off from Lekki and was heading towards Apapa before it exploded, trapping all 10 persons on board.
The body of the dead victim, identified as Emmanuel Onu, has been recovered from the water, while efforts were said to be ongoing to recover the bodies of other victims.
There were conflicting figures as to the actual number of those who died in the incident. While the police authorities in Lagos maintained that only one person died, relations of the passengers insisted that they were yet to know where those that were allegedly rescued were taken.
One of the relations, who spoke to Daily Sun, Sunday Ezugha, alleged that the owners of the boat told him on Friday that his brother was among those rescued and that he had been taken to an undisclosed hospital where he was being treated but only for him to receive a call yesterday that the body of his brother had been recovered from the water.
“I am sad and short of words because I was expecting that the owners of the boat would take us to the hospital where Emmanuel Onu was being treated only for them to tell me that he died in the water and that his body had been found,” he said.
Some operators of commercial boats in the area told Daily Sun that the incident occurred when the operator of the boat tried to refuel before Mekuen area.
“It was in the process of refuelling that the vessel exploded, trapping all the passengers on board,” one of them said.
The source, which also alleged cover-up on the part of management of Acquitien Oil and Gas, said they had refused to disclose the whereabouts of the victims to their families.
The Public Relations Officer of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), South-West zone, Ibrahim Farinloye, who also confirmed the incident, said it was only reported to them yesterday.
“A case of boat explosion that occurred on Friday, August 15 2014, which injured several passengers who were immediately rescued by volunteers and taken to different hospitals in Lagos Island, has just been reported to NEMA.
“The boat, which was said to belong to Aquitien Oil and Gas, took off from V-Craft Jetty, Lekki Phase 1 and while trying to refill gasoline at Capital Oil Jetty at Victoria Island, the engine exploded. A relative to one Emmanuel Omu, Sunday Ezugha, called and narrated that the owner of the boat, Aquitien Oil and Gas, could not be reached since the incident occurred. Emmanuel Omu has not been found as report indicated that he was rescued and taken to hospital. But his whereabouts had not been known till now,” he said in a text message.
Farinloye, through another text message, said: “The corpse of Emmanuel Onu has just been recovered.”
Deputy Police Public Relations Officer (DPPRO), Lagos State Police Command, Lelma Kolle, who also confirmed the report on phone, said at about 8 a.m. on Friday, August 15, a 10-passenger boat, which was on its way from Victoria Island to Apapa, while trying to refuel, exploded.
He said the boat belonged to Aquitien Oil and Gas in Victorial Island.
“Nine of the passengers on board were rescued by a combined team of police from the marine unit and some locals while one person is still missing,” he said.
1 dead, 9 injured in Lagos boat explosion |
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