Lagos intern dies in construction site elevator

An 18-year-old male student of Lagos State Skills Acquisition Centre Technical School, Egan, identified simply as Oluwaseun, has died in an elevator accident that occurred at a construction site in the Ikoyi area of the state.

The incident happened on Wednesday, December 6 while the deceased victim was observing his Industrial Training programme with the company.

It was gathered that Oluwaseun, an indigene of Kwara State, resumed with some of the construction workers on the day of the incident and was said to have been on the site until evening when he was last seen.

However, some of the engineers who resumed on Thursday noticed that one of the lift shafts was not working.

A construction worker who identified himself simply as Dennis told PUNCH Metro on Sunday that the engineers later forced the elevator open which led to the discovery of the deceased’s corpse inside.

Dennis, who works close to the site, said, “He (Oluwaseun) joined the company working on the site a few months ago. He resumed in the morning and closed almost the same time other workers closed. But the last time he was seen on Wednesday was around 5pm and by the time other engineers closed, they thought he had gone home. When they resumed the next day, they discovered that the lift shaft was not working any longer. They later forced it open around 3pm and saw the IT student lying lifeless inside.”

Dennis said the project engineer who was immediately alerted about the development, rushed to the spot.

“When the project manager saw the body, he left and reported at the police station. A team of policemen later came to the site and took pictures of the body. The officers also took it to the hospital where he was declared dead by the doctor on duty,” he said.

A police source in the area who craved not to be named as he was not authorised to speak on the incident told our correspondent that some physical injuries were seen on the corpse before he was evacuated.

“We found some physical injuries on the body which suggested that he could have fallen from the lift shaft. His family has been contacted,” the police said.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident on Sunday.

He said, “The corpse has been deposited in the morgue for autopsy. Investigation is ongoing to unravel the cause of his death.”