The British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ambassador Peter Leslie Carter, is dead. He slumped and died yesterday from a possible heart attack on arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The deceased who arrived Lagos on United Airlines Flight UA143 at 3.50 pm local time slumped in the avio-bridge while he was alighting from the aircraft.

Officials from British High Commission and the Port Health Services tried to resuscitate him with oxygen but the effort failed.

“We have an incident here. The UK Deputy High Commissioner who just arrived this afternoon on a United Airlines flight just slumped as he was coming out of the aircraft and died. He is being evaluated at this moment,” an informed source said.

Nobody knew the cause of the death or if he was sick onboard the aircraft, but a worker with one of the aviation handling companies disclosed that he saw the gathering of officers from the high commission who kept mum and looked solemn, before he learnt about the tragic incident.

It was learnt that as the deceased was leaving the aircraft, he started gasping for breath and needed oxygen, which was brought to resuscitate him but failed to recover.

Efforts to get the confirmation of the British High Commission in Lagos and Abuja, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, proved unsuccessful.

However, a letter written by the Federal Ministry of Health Port Health Services, which was signed by Doctors E.E. Ukatu and Abdullai, stated: “The Port Health Services was called today (2/9/14) by a FAAN (Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria) medical nurse at about 4.07 pm from the D arrival screening point to see a passenger (the deceased) said to have arrived onboard a United Airlines flight from Houston, Texas.

“It was reported that after disembarking, the passenger was observed to be clutching his chest and asking for help.

“In the course of examination, he was asked if he was Asthmatic, and he said ‘MAY BE’.

“On examination, he was found to be pale, in respiratory distress (gasping for breath), his pulse was rapid and thready. Based on his response to the question if he was asthmatic, a Ventolin inhaler was administered, but was not effective, as the patient was restless and threw off the inhaler to the floor. He was placed on the left lateral position and at the same time, oxygen was called for.

“Efforts were made to administer oxygen, while a second doctor was called and suction applied via a suction machine to clear the airway.

“Subsequently, the patient suffered a cardio-pulmonary arrest; the radial and carotid pulses were no longer palpable and patient was observed to be cyanosed. Attempts at resuscitation proved abortive. Pupils were fixed and dilated and patient was certified dead at 4.26 pm.”

Before his redeployment to Nigeria, Peter Leslie Carter (born 19 November 1956) was Her Britannic Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Estonia 2007–2012.

Carter was educated at The Skinners’ School in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and attended New College, Oxford, where he studied Modern Languages. He then worked for Arthur Andersen before moving to Italy, where he became a language teacher.

In 1984, he joined HM Diplomatic Service with postings at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London and New Delhi, and in 1996 went to Brussels, where he became responsible for the EU’s Middle East policy. He returned to London in 1998, where he negotiated the deal between North Korea and the United Kingdom which established diplomatic relations between the two countries. In 2001, Carter became Consul General at the British Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, and then in 2006 he served as Consul General in Milan. In December 2007 he was confirmed as the United Kingdom’s Ambassador to Estonia.

•Based on materials from THSDAY and Wikipedia. Photo shows late Ambassador Peter Leslie Carter.