A devastating accident on the Third Mainland Bridge has claimed two lives.
The body of a photographer who was in the vehicle that plunged into the lagoon on Saturday has been recovered.
This comes days after the body of the female driver was retrieved from the water.
The accident is believed to have occurred around 5:11am near the Rapid Response Squad checkpoint inward Iyana Oworo, Ebute Meta.
According to Benjamin Hundeyin, spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, “The second victim’s body was recovered yesterday (Tuesday).”
The response to the incident has been criticized, with eyewitnesses claiming that the female driver’s body was only recovered after her family paid N400,000 to fishermen.
A social media user, @dee-ah, expressed her outrage in an open letter to the Lagos State Government, writing,
“It is with a heavy heart that I write this. Yesterday, tragedy struck close to home. We lost a promising young lady, the niece of my best friend, in a car accident that resulted in the car plunging into the lagoon.
“The circumstances of the crash remain unclear, but what is more painful is the response that followed. LASTMA and Marine Police were at the scene, but there was no meaningful rescue effort.” @dee-ah continued, “In the end, the task fell onto local fishermen. They knew what had happened and even identified the exact spot where the car was. But before they would act, they demanded N400,000 to dive into the lagoon to search for the body of the victim.
The incident has highlighted the need for better emergency response systems in the state.
@dee-ah appealed to the government to “empower, train, and equip local divers and fishermen to enable them to act as first responders in emergencies. Can a fund or structure be created so that, in moments like this, money is not placed above humanity?
The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service confirmed the incident, with Director Margaret Adeseye stating,
“It is a self-accident involving a Toyota Camry car with registration number LSR 384 BE that plunged into the lagoon with a lone occupier as the driver.” However, an Instagram user noted that there were two people in the car, saying, “There were two people in the car: a man and a lady who were like family to the skateboarding community in Lagos. The other passenger was Chado, my friend and a photographer.”
The news of the incident has sparked an outpouring of tributes on social media, with many calling for improved emergency response systems.
Olori Elizabeth wrote, “Our heartfelt condolences to the family. We urge the government to bridge aid gaps so that such incidents do not recur.”
@Orekelomo also chimed in, criticizing Nigeria’s emergency response, saying, “The response to emergencies in Nigeria generally is poor. This is the reason I stopped taking the boat to work after ten years of surviving it.”
