The household of a person who died after diving into the River Thames to rescue a woman who fell from London Bridge have mentioned he had a “excellent coronary heart” – and accused search groups of giving up too rapidly.
Folajimi Olubunmi-Adewole, often called Jimi, was on his method house from work when he noticed the woman fall. He and one other man entered the water at round midnight on Saturday in a bid to rescue her.
The woman and the opposite man have been rescued by the Coastguard and the Metropolitan Police’s marine unit – however Jimi wasn’t discovered after an intensive search.
Police mentioned a physique, believed to be that of the 20-year-old, was found at 6am on Saturday.
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Jimi dived into the River Thames in a bid to save a woman who fell from London Bridge
Jimi’s mother and father Michael Adewola, 63, and his mom Olasunkanmi Adewole, 54, have been left heartbroken and are looking for “justice” for their son.
Speaking by tears, Mrs Adewole instructed Sky News: “I really feel unhealthy, as a result of my son was trying to rescue a woman. I really feel so unhealthy.. and I need individuals to assist me. I need justice for my son.”
His father mentioned that Jimi was a “very good man, a great boy”, whereas individuals on social media have hailed him as a “selfless hero”, “nice Samaritan”, and “very courageous younger man”.
Commenting on stories of Mr Olubunmi-Adewole’s dying, the mayor of London Sadiq Khan tweeted that he “was the very best of us”.
Mr Adewola mentioned: “He had an excellent coronary heart and he was excellent son to me.” He added that his son would usually assist different individuals in his space.
Mr Adewola mentioned the hour-long search for Jimi in the water was “not sufficient”.
He mentioned an officer knocked on the household house’s door at 1am on Saturday to inform them of the incident.
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The 20-year-old was on his method house from work when he tried to assist the woman
Jimi was together with his good friend Bernard after they heard {that a} woman had fallen into the Thames.
Recalling a name to police earlier than Jimi determined to dive in himself, Bernard instructed Sky News: “There’s a woman that is simply jumped aboard, we will hear the woman screaming ‘assist me, assist me, I’m gonna die’.
“Instantly Jimi checked out me and I mentioned, ‘alright, we will look for her’. But we could not see her, it was pitch black.”
Jimi dived into the water together with one other man to assist him strive to rescue the woman, Bernard mentioned, “as a result of that is how Jimi is – Jimi is pure at coronary heart”.
He mentioned he may hear Jimi “shouting my identify” as he misplaced sight of him.
“Someone ought to have been there, somebody ought to have jumped in and tried to rescue each of them,” he mentioned.
“At least rescue my good friend. And then I did not hear something, the radios have been going off, (and) I requested one of the boys that was sitting subsequent to me that was a policeman, if he is heard something. He mentioned two individuals have been saved.”
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Jimi’s physique was recovered at 6am on Saturday
A spokesperson for City of London Police mentioned: “We have been referred to as at 12.12am on Saturday 24 April to stories of a woman in the River Thames shut to London Bridge.
“Two males, who had witnessed the woman fall from the bridge, entered the river to attempt to save her.
“The Coastguard and Metropolitan Police Marine Units have been in a position to rescue the woman and one of the boys.”
Detective Chief Supt Oliver Shaw added: “I would really like to ship my deepest condolences, and the condolences of everybody at City of London Police, to the household and buddies of this courageous, sort and selfless younger man.
“Our officers arrived extraordinarily rapidly to the scene however two members of the general public had already entered the water. One man had managed to swim to the woman and so they have been each seen above water by the Coastguard.
“Sadly, there was no signal of the opposite rescuer. We remained on scene to help the marine items and police helicopter with the search in the water. This was stood down by the Coastguard over an hour later.
“We continued to search the shore of the river, in particular person and utilizing our community of CCTV cameras, and sadly, at 05.46 a physique was found.
“The circumstances of this incident are extraordinarily tragic. We proceed to help the household of this heroic younger man who heartbreakingly misplaced his personal life trying to save that of one other.”
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Jimi (R) together with his mother and father Michael Adewola and Olasunkanmi Adewole
The Maritime & Coastguard Agency confirmed that its personal search was suspended earlier than Jimi was discovered.
Matt Leat, HM Coastguard’s Strategic Maritime Commander, mentioned: “HM Coastguard coordinated a multi-agency search involving 5 Search and Rescue vessels, visible searches from bridges and an aerial search by the police helicopter.
“Despite conflicting stories about how many individuals had entered the water, we responded absolutely to the suggestion of a 3rd particular person in the water.
“Conditions have been good for a search on the evening, with a sluggish transferring tide and a excessive quantity of items from emergency companies in attendance. It was decided the place in the water the particular person may probably be and every space was completely searched a number of instances.
“Despite our greatest efforts, the unhappy resolution was made to droop the search at 1.20am when no signal of the particular person was discovered.”
