The body of a drainage worker who was trapped in the underground tunnel at Onipanu bus-stop in Lagos on Monday was recovered on Friday.
Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, permanent secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said in a statement on Friday.
Efforts by the emergency responders to rescue the man have not yielded any significant result until Friday evening when his body was recovered.
Mr Oke-Osanyintolu said that Tajudeen Amololo, 59, was employed by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) to clear the blocked tunnel.
“Upon arrival of the emergency responders at the incident scene, investigations revealed that an adult male de-silting drainages along that axis in attempts to clear a blocked portion, accessed the underground tunnel and got trapped,” an earlier statement reads.
“Further investigation at the incident scene revealed that the man was a Drain Ducks worker employed by LAMATA, while trying to dislodge and evacuate debris from the underground drainage and unfortunately got trapped in between the tunnel.”
Recovery
In the Friday statement, the agency said during the search and rescue operation, one of the operatives lost consciousness and the other one sustained injuries.
“In the process of the search and rescue operation on Monday 6th May,2024 a fireman from Lagos State Fire Service who suffocated in the underground drainage/tunnel was revived, stabilised by the Agency’s paramedics and immediately transported to LASUTH for adequate medical attention,” the statement reads.
“Also on Tuesday 7th May, 2024, a member of the LAMATA Drain Ducks got injured during a continuous search/rescue operation. He was immediately treated by the Agency’s paramedics.”
However, after “five days of painstaking, tedious and energy sapping operation, the team remained determined and focused on the rescue operation.
“At about 5:53pm on Friday 10th May, 2024 the victim was recovered dead from the underground drainage/tunnel. The recovered body was immediately bagged by the Agency’s officials and handed over to LAMATA Drain Ducks.”
