Emergency workers in Lagos State have recovered the bodies of six teenage victims of a boat mishap along the Ojo-Irewe waterways on Wednesday.
Three of the bodies were recovered Wednesday night and the other three at about 9am on Thursday, said the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) southwest spokesman, Ibrahim Farinloye.
The six teenagers were among 15 persons involved in the boat accident that occurred on Wednesday morning after a fibre boat ran into their canoe.
While nine others including the paddler were rescued alive at the time of the accident, the deceased could not be found.
According to rescuers, the children between ages 13 and 17 were on their way to school when the mishap occurred.
Managing Director of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), Yinka Marinho, spoke on the incident at a news conference on Thursday.
Marinho said the accident was as a result of a motorised Boat crashing into a canoe carrying the children to school.
The motorised boat had developed a mechanical fault midway in the water around Irewe, Ojo.
He explained that the operator of the boat was trying to fix the problem as his boat stopped in the water when it ran into the canoe.
He disclosed that the captain of the motorised boat had been arrested and detained at the Railway Police Station, lamenting that the passengers in the boat were not wearing live jackets despite the fact that the government had distributed 3,500 to boat operators.
