4 killed, 12 missing in Nigeria's beach disaster

Four people have been confirmed dead while 12 others were still missing Sunday afternoon due to the Atlantic Ocean surge which swept away residents of a beach resort in southwest Nigeria's Lagos State on Saturday, authorities of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) have said. General Manager of LASEMA Femi Osayintolu told Xinhua on Sunday that divers and other rescuers had a hectic time trying to recover bodies of the 16 residents of the popular Kuramo Beach resort, noting those affected were mainly people occupying illegal shanties at the beach front. "We have just recovered four bodies since the disaster occurred and we are still on a frantic search for about 12 people still missing," he said, adding body of a six year old girl was among those recovered. One person was earlier confirmed dead in the overnight incident, when the Atlantic Ocean charged into the Lagos Kuramo Beach. According to Osayintolu, residents of the beach resort were asleep at midnight when the disaster occurred at about 2 a.m. local time. Saying the Kuramo Beach and other waterfront resorts in the area had been cordoned-off by security officials and personnel of emergency agencies, the top rescue official advised residents of waterfront settlements in Lagos to vacate such places immediately, for fear of a recurrence of the tragedy. Meanwhile, a resident of Iru community where the surge occurred, Femi Salawu, said the problem had been compounded by abandoned vessels in the beaches in the state. "Ship wrecks in the beaches in this area could be the main problem and cause of the surge," he lamented, while appealing to the Nigerian government to assist the Lagos State government to remove the wrecks in order to address the problem and avoid its recurrence. Coastal areas in Nigeria's Lagos State, particularly communities surrounding the beach, have recently been sacked by ocean surges.