8 Killed As Truck Crashes Into Stationary Vehicles

No fewer than eight people were feared dead, yesterday, in Lagos when a truck veered off its lane and crashed into stationary vehicles at Oshodi.

Five vehicles were involved in the accident which occurred at the Oshodi ‘Isale’ Bus Stop on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.

The stationary vehicles involved in the accident included three commercial buses and a Spots Utility Vehicle, SUV.

Some of the victims were passengers in a commercial bus waiting to be conveyed to Isheri-Oshun and Ijegun areas while others were commuters and passers-by waiting at the bus stop.

According to eye-witnesses, the mini-truck with inscription ‘Chosen Generation Church’ was heading towards Mile 2 when it allegedly suffered a break failure and dragged a Mitsubishi SUV with number plate LAGOS KS 581 AV which was also on the service lane and both rammed into the two commercial buses which were loading.

While one of the commercial buses with number plate LAGOS BDG 166 XE was slightly damaged, the 22-passenger bus LAGOS XM 759 EPE lost five passengers on the spot while others were severely injured.

An eye witness simply identified as Onwe said the driver of the fully loaded commercial bus escaped as the incident occurred shortly after he alighted from the vehicle to obtain a ticket from the union office.

The incident caused a heavy traffic congestion on the expressway until the timely intervention of law enforcement agents who conveyed the victims to a near-by hospital and the mini-truck towed to Makinde police division.

Also, the lone occupant of the SUV and occupants of the first commercial bus escaped unhurt but some commuters and passers-by were badly hit.

A survivor, Madam Funmi Ajala, said she could not explain how she survived the accident.

According to her: “We were waiting for the driver who was out of sight when the bus was hit by the truck. Before we realised what was happening we were trapped as the door was locked and none of us could escape.”

A victim’s mother, Mrs Aborishade Janet, said she lost her only daughter to the crash.

She said: “I got a distress call that my daughter was terribly sick only to behold her lifeless body. I waited in the market to purchase some items before joining her at home. If only I knew it will end this way, I would have stopped her.”

In a chat with Vanguard, Chairman, Oshodi-Isolo motor park, Comrade Bolaji Ariyo, put the casualty figure at five, saying: “Five were confirmed dead while five were injured.”

Transport managers pulled the affected vehicles off the road to diffuse the resultant gridlock.

Mr Samuel Ogundayo, the Oshodi Unit Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, said that 19 people were involved in the accident, adding: “A tipper had a break failure. 19 people were involved but eight died instantly.

“They have been taken to the General Hospital Ikeja and the Health Centre, Oshodi.”

However, an official of the Lagos State Transport Management Authority, who pleaded anonymity, said that five people died in the accident and five injured.

He said that the bodies of the dead had been taken to the GeneralHospital, Ikeja, while the wounded were taken to the Trauma Centre Oshodi. [Vanguard]