A male adult, yet to be identified, became trapped in an underground tunnel in the Onipanu area of Lagos State while de-silting drainages in the community on Monday.
According to a statement from the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority (LASEMA), Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, the incident occurred while the victim, employed by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), was attempting to clear a blocked portion of the drainage.
Oke-Osanyintolu explained that the worker got trapped in the tunnel while trying to dislodge and evacuate debris from the underground drainage system. Upon receiving an SOS message about the distress situation, LASEMA activated the state’s Emergency Response Plans from its Onipanu Base.
Emergency responders, upon arrival at the scene, discovered that the adult male had accessed the underground tunnel during his drainage maintenance duties and subsequently became trapped.
A search and rescue operation, initiated by the LASEMA Response Team and other emergency responders, began at approximately 4:25 pm. The statement noted that efforts were being made to rescue the trapped worker, with the operation still ongoing.
Sophisticated equipment has been deployed to penetrate the manhole and facilitate the rescue mission. Additionally, strategic measures have been implemented to block and divert inflow of water from the Ilupeju axis to minimize the volume of underground fluids and expedite the rescue efforts.