An 18-year-old male student of the Lagos State Skills Acquisition Centre Technical School, Egan, identified only as Oluwaseun, died in an elevator accident at a construction site in the state’s Ikoyi area where he worked as an intern.
The incident happened on Wednesday, December 6, while the deceased victim was observing his industrial training program with the company.
Oluwaseun, an intern from Kwara State, was said to have resumed work with some of the construction workers on the day of the incident and was said to have remained on the site until the evening when he was last seen.
However, when the engineers returned on Thursday, they discovered that one of the lift shafts was broken.
A construction worker who identified himself simply as Dennis told reporters on Sunday that the engineers later forced the elevator open, which led to the discovery of the deceased’s corpse inside.
Dennis said, “He (Oluwaseun) joined the company working on the site a few months ago as a intern. He resumed work in the morning and closed almost at the same time other workers closed. But the last time he was seen on Wednesday was around 5 p.m., 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 3 p.m. and saw the IT (intern) student lying lifeless inside.”
He added that 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 to 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 spoke on the condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak on the incident, told reporters that some physical injuries were seen on the corpse of the intern 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.
Benjamin Hundeyin, the state police public relations officer, confirmed the incident on Sunday.
He said, “The corpse has been deposited in the morgue for autopsy. An investigation is ongoing to unravel the cause of his death.”
