- The family of Meshioye said there is more to the issue than what EgyptAir is letting them in on
- The family expressed their grief and misgivings in a statement on Friday
More information has come to the fore concerning the death of the Nigerian lady who died in an EgyptAir flight en route to United Kingdom.
Within Nigeria had reported on Friday that the said lady who was on a study visa died in transit and her body was dumped in Egypt by the airline.
However, significant details of the incident as it regards the deceased names, flight itinerary and family reactions have now emerged.
The lady, identified as Remilekun Toyosi Meshioye, left Nigeria for London aboard Egypt Air MS 876 flight to Cairo on Monday through the Murtala Muhammad International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
It was learned that Meshioye was going to London on a student visa and boarded Egypt Air on a connecting flight to London via Egypt Air MS777 the following day.
The family speaks
The family of Meshioye said there is more to the issue than what EgyptAir is letting them in on.
The family expressed their grief and misgivings in a statement signed by Olufunmilola Olaniyi-Alabi, the elder sister of the decease, on Friday.
The family demanded that the corpse of their daughter be released to them by the airline.
Olaniyi-Alabi said the airline didn’t inform the family, but rather they got a message from the consular office in Cairo informing them of the death of their daughter on board the flight.
She stated that the family has also demanded that they need to know what exactly happened and how to get her corpse back to Nigeria.
She said, “ My sister left Lagos for the UK on Monday at 14:00 via Egyptair line and eventually died during her transit from Lagos to Cairo, according to the little information we got.”
Olaniyi-Alabi said they called EgyptAir customer care and all other contact phone details on their website, but no response all through Wednesday, and when the phone was picked up, they quickly cut it.
“It was only once that a man picked up the call that we put through to the EgyptAir Region Office in London, and he said the London office is not aware of what happened and they don’t have information to share with us.
“So we were left with no choice but to report to the UK Police Department on Wednesday, and they later confirmed to us that our sister was not in the UK. They advised us to contact Cairo or Lagos airports. We 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,” she explained.
Olaniyi-Alabi disclosed that it was at this point that they intensified their efforts as regards trying to get in touch with Egypt Air.
She said: “Myself and my husband reside in Leeds, UK and later travelled to London (Heathrow) on Wednesday night to get to London on Thursday morning, and we demanded to see the EgyptAir regional manager in their London office, who made some calls on Thursday afternoon in her office to their Cairo office.
“She later informed us that Remi fell sick in the plane, and on landing in Cairo, they rushed her to the hospital in town, where she later died. The effort to obtain more information from her was not quite successful as to how she died. She said the Nigerian Embassy has been informed, and they are the ones that should have contacted us. She later called the Nigeria consular (Saliu Agraza).
“I strongly feel that EgyptAir should have contacted us as the passenger’s next of kin against us struggling to get information which as of this time that I am writing, they are yet to provide to us.
“We spoke to the Nigerian Embassy in the person of Saliu Agraza, who responded that EgyptAir 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 that only the Nigerian Embassy in the person of Saliu, as a Nigerian Consular, will be able to write and demand what happened on the plane and at the airport to Remilekun and request for all her belongings and documents that they have in their possession, including the CCTV footage in the plane and at the airport.”
She alleged that Egypt Air is hiding the truth of what happened to her sister on the plane and on landing at the airport on Monday night and does not want to take responsibility for what happened to her.
“As a family of Remilekun, we are demanding for her body to be returned back to Nigeria by EgyptAir at their own expense, and they should return all her luggage back to Lagos where she boarded the plane on Monday 4th of September,” she added