British diplomat slumps, dies at Lagos airport

Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos

A top British diplomat on Tuesday slumped and died at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, security officials at the flagship airport said.

The envoy, who was said to have arrived aboard a United Airlines flight, died at the arrival hall shortly after disembarking from the plane around 3pm.

A top security operative at the airport said the diplomat might have died of heart-related complications.

“He was shouting help! Help! and then slumped. People did not want to go near initially because of the Ebola scare that has been in town,” the official added.

The spokesman for the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, Mr. Yakubu Dati, confirmed that somebody died at the airport but said the identity of the person had yet to be ascertained.

“Someone died at the airport. Port Health officials are on the matter. We cannot confirm the identity now,” he said.

Also, the Commissioner of Police, Airport Command, Mr. Wahab Salau, also confirmed that a foreigner had died at the airport on Tuesday afternoon.

He, however, said the identity of the person had yet to be ascertained.

Airport officials confirmed that officials from the British embassy came to evacuate the corpse from the airport at about 7.45pm.

“Some officials of the British Embassy came to evacuate the body of the diplomat that died at the airport this evening,” a top security official at the airport who did not want to be quoted said.

When contacted last night, the British High Commission spokesman, Robert Fitzpatrick, in a text message said, he could not confirm the passage of the diplomat.

He said, “I can’t confirm anything at the moment, but would ask that you exercise restraint in your publication until I am able to come back to you.”