A retired Air Vice Marshal (AVM) and his driver have been recovered dead after their Ford Explorer, a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) plunged into the lagoon on Saturday night.
The incident occurred around 10:55pm, by the UNILAG waterfront in Lagos.
A motorist had told The Nation that: “There was a vehicle inside the lagoon. People are trapped in it. The vehicle was heading into Lagos Island. Fishermen and LASEMA are trying to safe the occupants of the vehicle now. May God help them.”
The deceased were said to be driving inward Lagos Island, when they colluded with another vehicle on the bridge. As a result of the accident, the SUV, it was gathered, tumbled several times before skidding into the lagoon.
It was learnt that officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and local fishermen recovered the bodies from the submerged vehicle around 2:30am.
According to a source, they both had their seat belts on and didn’t have physical injuries.
He said: “All the air bags in the vehicle came out. It was a serious accident. The burnet pulled out and the roof was flattened, which indicated that the vehicle might have tumbled at least three times before nosediving.
“The vehicle was over 75 percent submerged into the muddy part of the lagoon. When we brought it out, we had to first raise the flattened vehicle to avoid inflicting injuries on the bodies.
“The GM has been in touch with his family and officers from the Nigerian Air Force. I think the General’s family members are abroad.”
A prominent Lagosian, the AVM, it was gathered retired from the Nigerian Air Force some years ago and had since devoted his time, resources in the real estate sector.
It was learnt that the retired General came into Nigeria last Tuesday from the United Kingdom to attend a burial.
General Manager LASEMA, Adesina Tiamiyu confirmed the incident, but declined further comments on the issue.
He said: “This is a sad incident. I can only tell you that we recovered two bodies. I cannot say who they are because it won’t be fair to the families to learn about the demise of their loved ones from the media.”
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