Medical doctor killed in Lagos hospital elevator accident, buried

Female medical doctor attached to the Lagos State-owned General Hospital, Odan, who died in an elevator accident, last Tuesday, Dr Vwaere Diaso, has been buried.

The late Dr Diaso, died on Tuesday, August 1 due to injuries sustained after she was trapped for more than 40 minutes in an elevator at the Lagos Island General Hospital, Odan. Te elevator had fallen from the 10th floor.

Diaso, a female medical house officer reportedly died a few weeks to the completion of her Housemanship in the hospital.

The elevator of the General Hospital, Odan, in Lagos was said to have had faults which staff had frequently complained about but to no avail.

In response, Lagos State Government set up an investigative panel following the accident. Acting on the report of the panel weekend, the Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu suspended the General Manager of the Lagos State Infrastructure Asset Management Agency (LASIAMA), directed punitive action on some staff and contractors said to have been indicted over the accident.

The state government also directed the sacking and blacklisting of all the Facility Managers attached to the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos Island, where the accident took place.

It further announced that it has ‘handed the installation and maintenance contractors to the police for further investigation and likely prosecution if they are found culpable,’ saying the police will also investigate anyone else that might have been found to be negligent.

In addition, the government directed its safety agency ‘to immediately carry out an audit of all elevators in public offices. This is besides the usual safety arrangements that have always existed.’

While commiserating with the family of the deceased doctor, over what it described as ‘irreparable loss’ of the female doctor, the state government acknowledged ‘with deep regret the unfortunate elevator accident of Tuesday, 1st August 2023 at the House Officer’s residence of the General Hospital, Odan, which resulted in the death of Dr. Vwaere Diaso, a vibrant young house officer.’

This is also the government insisted that the contrary to claims of a decrepit elevator at the health facility, that ‘the elevator that crashed was installed brand new in 2021.’

Meanwhile, a series of posts by the deceased doctor’s sister, Ese Diaso, confirmed the laying to rest of Dr. Vwaere, Tuesday.

“Today my sister was buried. The pain my family and I are going through is indescribable. To so many people, Vwaere is just another sad story of how the Nigerian government has and continues to fail its people but she’s more than that. She was a daughter, granddaughter, sister, girlfriend , friend, niece, our dockie who worked tirelessly helping people.

“We want her to be remembered as the beautiful, hardworking, loving, selfless, caring and intelligent woman she was. Vwaere even though you are no longer physically here with us, you will live on in our hearts. Thank you for all the amazing memories. We will cherish them forever.

“We would like to thank and appreciate every single person that attended her funeral today. Thank you for all the support and well wishes in this difficult time. Vwaere is resting now,” Ese wrote.

It would be recalled that reacting to the death of the doctor, the Nigerian Medical Association NMA) Lagos State Chapter, directed its members to proceed on an immediate industrial action at the three government hospitals located on the Island, in the state.

A directive to that effect from the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State chapter, said the strike follows the death of their colleague, identified as Dr. Vwaere Diaso, who died as a result of an elevator accident, Tuesday.

The NMA also declared a five-day mourning period in the state and asked doctors in the other government-owned hospitals to scale down activities as a mark of respect for the dead colleague.

The body which made this known in a press statement signed by its state Chairman, Dr Benjamin Olowojebutu, and Secretary, Ismail Ajibowo, Wednesday, also informed that the hospitals to embark on the indefinite strike are; the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos, Lagos Island Maternity Hospital, Lagos, and the Massey Street Children’s Hospital, Lagos.

“The NMA Lagos State received with rude shock the death of one of our members, Dr Vwaere Diaso, a medical house officer, whose death occurred as a result of injuries sustained when the elevator she was in crashed. This is heartbreaking, heart-wrenching, and quite unfortunate. We commiserate with her immediate family, her colleagues on the Island, the Medical Guild, and all body of doctors in Lagos State. The information we got was that she was trapped in the elevator for more than 40 minutes before she was rescued.

“We were also reliably informed that there was no blood available for resuscitation, and this has become a recurring issue as a result of the review made by the government on the previous policy on blood donation.

“To us, this was an avoidable death and it’s unfortunate that it was allowed to happen. We are pained and we are mourning. We are well aware that this same elevator has been a source of problem for many years during which several complaints have been made to all relevant agencies with no respite,” the statement read in part.

The association, however, demanded an immediate and unbiased investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Also condemning the incident, the opposition Labour Party (LP), Thursday, tackled Lagos First Lady, Mrs Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, for claiming that the medical doctor attached to a public hospital in the state who died, last Tuesday, in an elevator accident was a victim of ‘spiritual attack.’

Reacting, Wednesday, the governor’s wife blamed ‘spiritual attack’ as cause for the death of the doctor, saying ‘an arrow has been fired into the health family.’

While addressing the media, Mrs Sanwo-Olu implied that the incident was caused by a “spiritual attack” against the health sector.

In a now-viral video, Ibijoke also linked the incident to the jet accident that occurred in the state on Tuesday while seeking answers from the crowd.

“An arrow has been fired into the health family. First of August is a day I will never forget,” she said.

“The same day a helicopter crashed, the same day a lift dropped down. How? How? How?”

The doctor’s demise has continued to attract a chorus of condemnation on social media platforms, with many Nigerians accusing the hospital’s management of negligence.

While sympathizing with the family and colleagues of late Dr Diaso, the LP chairperson, Ekong said the doctor’s death is ‘a pointer to the decrepit infrastructure and inefficient government of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu led Lagos State Government.’

“The death of Doctor Vwaere Diaso is not only avoidable but very painful and a pointer to the decrepit infrastructure and inefficient government of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu led Lagos State Government.

“We commiserate with the family of the shining star Medical Doctor on the death of their promising Daughter.

“It is only the Almighty GOD that can console the family on this tragic and avoidable death of your promising Daughter. It occurred due to the failure of the LASG. Please accept our condolences.”

Ekong said that preliminary investigation revealed that there had been complaints about the malfunctioning elevator for years without attention.

“The complaints were largely ignored until a life was lost, then suddenly, an investigative commission was immediately set up,” he said.

He said the Babajide Sanwo -Olu-led LASG has always claimed to be a working government especially in the provision of health infrastructure. She urged the government to pay genuine attention to the citizens it governs.