The bodies of a retired Air Vice Marshal, Olufunsho Martins, and his driver have been recovered after the vehicle they were driving in plunged into the Lagos lagoon on Saturday.
The vehicle, a Ford Explorer SUV, fell into the lagoon after somersaulting on the Third Mainland bridge. It was removed from the lagoon in the early hours of Sunday, with the bodies of the deceased.
Officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency and local divers lifted out the bodies from the lagoon, with both occupants dead. Mr. Martins, who owned Martinos Events Centre and Hotel Suites in Agidingbi, Ikeja, was said to be going to his Funsho Martin’s Avenue, Park View Estate, when the vehicle collided with another, at about 10.55 p.m., Saturday. He was identified using an identity card found inside the vehicle, after it was brought out.
Both bodies were thereafter taken to the Nigerian Airforce hospital, Ikeja . A worker with LASEMA said, “The accident happened around 11.15 p.m. at the University of Lagos Waterfront end of the bridge. The vehicle was discovered in less than one hour. But bringing out the bodies was difficult because they were badly mangled.”
The general manager of LASEMA, Adeshina Tiamiyu, confirmed the incident, adding that investigations were ongoing. He said, “We received a distress call to our call centre around 11 p.m. and we dispatched our rescue team to the scene. After some time, we recovered the bodies of two men in the car. Their families were then contacted.”
