A young Nigerian doctor identified as Vwaere Diaso has reportedly died in an elevator accident at the Lagos General Hospital.
The young doctor died after the elevator crashed from the 10th floor to the ground with Dr. Diaso inside, an eyewitness disclosed on Twitter.
The Twitter user named Big Amara revealed on Monday August 1, that the deceased was on her way to the ground floor to receive a delivery from a dispatch rider when the unfortunate incident happened.
She tweeted, ”A doctor who had just 2 weeks to complete her housemanship just died in general hospital (Odan, Lagos island) due to poor management and negligence!!! The elevator she was in, fell from 10th floor to the ground! Video was so painful to watch.”
Another user revealed that it took approximately one hour to evacuate the victim from the crashed elevator, before being rushed to the emergency room, where she allegedly died.
To confirm the statements made by others, another user identified as @kristeana08 tweeted, ”Particularly aggrieved because we’ve complained for a long time about this elevator. We’ve maneuvered, managed and prayed each time we had to use it. Empty promises will be made to fix it….till it killed one of us.”
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In 2020, the medical guild had tweeted about the dire situation of the hospital’s doctors’ quarters, which had a non-functional elevator and no running water as well as plead for urgent intervention.
Vwaere was a graduated of Babcock University and had only two weeks left to complete her housemanship, her colleagues revealed on Twitter.
Her untimely death has sparked outrage on social media, with many Nigerians sharing their experiences and concerns about the hospital’s facilities, especially the faulty elevator.
A popular online doctor known as @akproko_doctor noted that the death was avoidable if the complaints were promptly attended to.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) expressed sadness over the loss of the promising doctor and demanded an immediate, unbiased investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The NMA’s Chairman, Dr. Benjamin Olowojebutu, and Secretary, Dr. Ismail Ajibowo, issued a joint statement on Wednesday, revealing distressing details surrounding the fatal incident.
According to the statement, Dr. Vwaere was trapped inside the elevator for more than 40 minutes before being rescued, a situation they said could have possibly been averted with timely intervention and better safety measures.
The NMA declared a five-day mourning period in honor of the deceased doctor as well as directed doctors in the three government hospitals on the Island namely GH Lagos, LIMH, and MSCH to embark on an indefinite strike until the investigations are completed and justice served.
The NMA also requested government to urgently undertake a complete overhaul of the house officers’ quarters on the island and attend to other infrastructures in all government hospitals that require repairs.
