British heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua was injured in a car crash in Nigeria on Monday morning that killed two people, local police said.
The former world heavyweight boxing champion was taken to an undisclosed hospital after his car hit a stationary vehicle at around 11am on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ogun state police commissioner Lanre Ogunlowo said. The driver of Joshua’s vehicle was also injured, he added.
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“It’s still sketchy for us here. We are trying to establish all the facts from the first responders and that is the most we can say … We will be giving details as we have updates,” Ogunlowo explained.
Ogun police command said in a statement: “The vehicle conveying Mr Joshua, a Lexus SUC, was involved in the accident under circumstances that are currently being investigated. Joshua, seated in the rear of the vehicle, sustained minor injuries and is receiving medical attention with another injured person.
“Tragically, two other passengers in the vehicle lost their lives at the scene. The deceased have been conveyed to Livewell Hospital Morgue, Sagamu. The Ogun State Police Command extends heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased and assures the public that a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the accident has commenced.”
A video shared by local news outlet Punch appeared to show Joshua sitting in the back left seat of a damaged car. A second video showed him walking slowly and getting into a police vehicle. A photo shared by the outlet appeared to be of a second, damaged vehicle, a truck covered in tarpaulin.
Joshua is the son of British-Nigerian parents and has family ties in the town of Sagamu, about 30 miles north of Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos. Police said the crash took place on the north-bound Ibadan side of the highway, close to the junction to Sagamu.
The 36-year-old attended a boarding school in Ikenne, 53 miles from the crash site, before returning to Britain aged 12.
On 20 December, he knocked out YouTuber Jake Paul in the sixth round of a boxing match streamed live on Netflix, after a 15-month break from the sport. He was expected to fight Tyson Fury, another former world heavyweight champion, fellow Briton and longtime rival, next year.
Earlier on Monday morning, Joshua had posted a video of himself playing table tennis on his Instagram stories, without disclosing a location.
Joshua’s management team in the UK said they had been unable to reach the boxer.