1 Dead, 9 Injured In Lagos Boat Explosion

                           

At least one per­son died and nine others were in­jured at the week­end when a boat in which they were travelling ex­ploded around Walter Carrington Way, Victoria Island in Lagos.

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.

 The Sun Report