The student was reportedly travelling to the United Kingdom on a student visa.
A Nigerian student travelling from Lagos to London on board EgyptAir has died in a hospital in Cairo, the capital of Egypt.
The deceased, identified as Meshioye Remilekun Toyosi, embarked on an ill-fated journey from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Monday, September 4, 2023, hoping to reach her destination in the United Kingdom.
However, things took a tragic turn when she reportedly fell sick mid-flight and was taken to a hospital in Cairo, where she gave up the ghost.
Meanwhile, the deceased’s family are demanding answers from the airline regarding the circumstances of her death while also seeking assistance in repatriating her remains to Nigeria.
Per ThePunch, Toyosi’s elder sister, Mrs Olufunmilola Olaniyi-Alabi, who narrated what happened, disclosed that the family had made repeated attempts to contact the airline via their customer care and other phone details on their website but didn’t get any response all through Wednesday and even when the call was answered, they quickly dropped it.
“It was only once that a man answered the call that we put through to the Egypt Air Regional Office in London and he said the London office was not aware of what happened and they don’t have information to share with us.
“We then contacted the agent who sold the ticket to her and the agent sent us proof that she did not board the plane going to Heathrow from Cairo. It was at this point we intensified our efforts as regards trying to get in touch with Egypt Air.
“The regional manager in their London office made some calls on Thursday afternoon in her office to their Cairo office. She later informed us that Remi fell sick on the plane and on landing in Cairo they rushed her to the hospital in town where she later died.
“Efforts to obtain more information from her were not quite successful as to how she died. She said the Nigerian embassy had been informed and they were the ones that should have contacted us. She later called the Nigerian consular (Mr Saliu Agraza),” ThePunch reports.
Speaking further, Olufunmilola expressed her grievance over the failure of EgyptAir to contact the passenger’s next of kin, which left the family to scurry around for information that the airline hadn’t provided at press time.
“We spoke to the Nigerian Embassy in the person of Mr Saliu Agraza, who responded that EygptAir only informed them on Tuesday that Remi was dead and handed over her body to them but did not have any other information or any contact of her relatives.
“EygptAir further said only Agraza, being the Nigerian consular, would be able to write and demand what happened on the plane, at the airport and request for all her things and documents that they have in their possession, including the CCTV footage in the plane and at the airport.
“I am of the opinion that EgyptAir is hiding some truth as to what happened to her in the plane and on landing at the airport on Monday night. They don’t want to take responsibility for what happened to Remi. As the family of Remilekun, we are demanding for her body to be returned to Nigeria by Egypt Air at their expense and they should return all her luggage to Lagos where she boarded the plane on Monday, September 4,” she added.
-Pulseng
