LASUTH Complex
By Chinedu Eze and Chiemelie Ezeobi
One of the five remaining survivors of the ill-fated Associated Airlines’ aircraft 5NBJY, which crashed in Lagos last week, killing 13 persons, on Tuesday night gave up the ghost despite concerted efforts to save him.
The aircraft, an Embraer 120 Turboprop series, had crashed within the premises of JUHEL and a Sahara tank farm, three minutes after take-off from the local wing of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
The death of the deceased, who was identified as Taiwo Akintunde, has increased the total death toll from the plane crash to 16 with four survivors still battling for their lives.
However, the only female survivor act the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Toyin Samson, who is currently at the Recuperating Ward of the Surgical Emergency is still stable except for the pains from the burns.
Also, another female cabin crew member, Queeneth Owolabi, who is currently at the Nigerian Air Force Hospital, is said to be recuperating too.
As at press time, it was uncertain if the duo of Feyi Agagu and Femi Akinsanya, who also survived the crash, were still at the BT unit of the same hospital where they were transferred to over the weekend.
Prior to his death, the deceased had alongside another survivor, Hassan Samson, now deceased too, been kept under close watch at the highly sterilised Intensive Care Unit of LASUTH.
The roommates had both been up to sophisticated electronic monitors to help check their blood pressures and monitor their progress.
A senior medical personnel who would not want to be mentioned, told THISDAY yesterday that the critical nature of the deceased's injuries grew from bad to worse.
He said: "As a medical personnel, we hoped against hope but the state at which they were brought in was worrisome. That notwithstanding, we tried out best to ensure that they live.
"While Hassan fought for his life and later gave up the ghost on Saturday, Akintunde's survival gave us hope that the worst has passed but he suddenly took a turn for the worse and died."
Efforts to confirm if the deceased's relatives had been alerted by the hospital authorities for the Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test proved abortive; likewise, efforts to ascertain if his corpse had been moved to the Lekan Ogunsola Morgue of LASUTH.
The hospital had on Saturday carried out the DNA test process on the 15 families of the deceased occupants of the ill-fated plane.
With his death after the DNA samples of other affected families had been sent off to London for identification and match, it was yet unclear if the hospital had begun the process for him.
Meanwhile, a fund raising has begun for the two female survivors Owolabi and Samson, whom friends and family alleged had been abandoned to their fate by the airline.
According to the reports, Queeneth's husband who was briefly allowed to see her, said she was in a bad shape but managed to recognise him a bit.
This is just as the relatives of the deceased victims flayed the lackadaisical attitude of the airline to their plight.
According to Nkechi Duru, sister to the deceased undertaker, Chijioke Duru, the airline was yet to call them over their loss.
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