Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos State, fired the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos Island facility managers following the death of Diaso Vwaere, a junior medical doctor.

The general manager of the Lagos State Infrastructure and Asset Management Agency has also been suspended, according to a statement signed by Olumide Sogunle, permanent secretary, of the Ministry of Information and Strategy.

According to the statement, findings reveal that the incident happened around 6:50 pm.

“Due to the impact, the elevator doors were damaged and needed to be forced open to rescue the trapped house officer. She was extracted at about 7.50 pm and resuscitation commenced immediately. She was wheeled to the emergency room and was immediately attended to by a medical team led by a highly experienced consultant orthopaedic and trauma surgeon,” the statement read.

“The team was assisted by all house officers who were present at the time. The initial objectives were to ensure a clear airway, maintain breathing, and establish circulation. Two consultant anaesthetists, including the medical director, also joined the team, and intubated the patient. Despite all the efforts, she stopped breathing around 8.13 pm and Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) commenced. This went on until 8.59 pm when she was pronounced dead.

“It is important to state that blood samples for cross-matching had not been taken and there had not been a request for blood at the time CPR commenced; it is not true that blood was not available. The State has a strong network of screening centres where blood is available. Besides, a register of voluntary donors can be mobilised at very short notice.”

“It is also important to state that the elevator that crashed was installed brand new in 2021. Elevator experts working with the Lagos Safety Commission have carried out an initial inspection and will be removing the elevator for further mechanical examination to determine why the safety features that should prevent this kind of accident did not work. Their findings will determine if we have a case with the elevator installer.”

“The facility managers’ operations and line of reporting have been restructured to involve the hospital management directly. We have handed the installation and maintenance contractors to the police for further investigation and likely prosecution if they are found culpable. The police will also investigate anyone else that might have been found to be negligent

Engineers are working to unravel why all the safety devices of the elevator failed at the same time.