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Lagos airport shut, flights diverted over corpse on runway

International flights were prevented from landing and taking off from the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos State, on Thursday, as the terminal was temporarily shut after a mangled corpse was found on Runway 18R of the airport.

The identity of the corpse could not be ascertained as of press time.

Also, it could not be ascertained whether the dead man was knocked down by an aircraft taking off or landing on the runway.

However, airport officials disclosed that the runway was temporarily shut down while a team of officials from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), and the Nigeria Police Force evacuated the corpse from the runway.

During the temporary shutdown of the runway, international flights were prevented from landing and taking off from the airport.

According to Punch, among the flights that could not land due to the shutdown was an Ethiopian Airlines flight 3907, a Boeing 77F aircraft with registration number ETAVN, which was coming from Lome, Togo to Lagos, Nigeria.

The flight was later diverted back to Lome after holding for a while.

Airport officials said the corpse was suddenly found on Runway 18R during a routine runway inspection by FAAN personnel.

The officials were said to have reported a corpse on the runway around the cargo area.

The spokesperson for FAAN, Mrs. Faithful Avokerie Hope-Ivbaz, could not immediately confirm the incident, saying she had yet to be briefed on the development.

Also, the Police Public Relations Officer, Airport Command, Mr Olayinka Ojelade, said he had yet to get the requited signal on the incident.

However, the incident was confirmed by a top police official at the airport, saying the command was called upon in the early hours of Thursday to evacuate the corpse from Runway 18R.

He stated that the police were investigating the identity of the dead man and how he got to the security area of the international airport.

The Star