… Six dead, many injured as train crushes Lagos govt staff bus
…10 burnt to death on Oyo-Ogbomoso Road
… Five die, 15 injured in Enugu auto crash
… Five burnt beyond recognition in Badagry-SemeExpressway crash
…One killed by commercial bus driver along Lagos-Abeokuta express road
By David Oluwaseun
Not less than 30 lives were lost yesterday due to ghastly motor accidents in different parts of the country just as a moving train rammed into a bus conveying civil servants to work in Lagos, six people were confirmed dead in the accident.
The gory road accidents occurred in Enugu, where five people were confirmed dead and 15 injured, In Seme, Badagry where five travelers were burnt beyond recognition while ten commuters were also razed in inferno in auto crash that happened along Oyo-Ogbomosho road.
In Lagos, the train accident occurred at the PWD bus stop in the Ikeja area of the state on Thursday morning. Already, six persons have been confirmed dead by emergency responders, and over 82 persons injured and rushed to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Ikeja.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who visited the hospital, said two persons died at the scene of the accident and four at the hospital.
He said 85 passengers were involved in all, 42 with moderate injuries, 29 with serious injuries while eight have mild injuries.
The sights from the scene are gory as passersby watch in horror even as dead and injured victims were extricated from the bus which was hit right on the rail tracks.
The Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Adebayo Taofiq said though the bus involved in the crash is the same as the regular BRT buses in the state, the bus was a staff bus of the Lagos State Government.
Adebayo said that the staff bus was with registration no 04A- 48LA.
Similarly, the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr OluwafemiOke-Osanyintolu. said the unfortunate incident happened early in the morning but all emergency stakeholders are on ground.
“The incident happened around 7:38 this morning. As you can see the train collided with a bus. But, we have activated our emergency effort plan, and all key stakeholders that are important in emergency are on the ground,” said Oke-Osanyintolu.
Speaking about casualties, he said, “We were able to rescue people and recover two bodies. And the operation is still ongoing.”
“I can’t really talk about the number of the casualty but there are casualties that have been taking to the LASUTH,” Oke-Osanyintolu added.
The accident caused a gridlock on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway from for motorists coming from Oshodi around Shogunle to Ikeja-Along.
Operatives of the LASEMA, the Lagos State Transport Management Agency (LASTMA), the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, the Lagos State Police Command and the Nigerian Army were present at the scene of the accident.
Also, a spokesman for the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Nosa Okunbor said over 82 others injured and evacuated to LASUTH.
“The State Government staff bus was trying to cross the PWD/Sogunle rail crossing while the train coming into Lagos from Abeokuta trapped the bus on its rail,” he added.
In the meantime, the Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Mr Fidet Okhiria, on Thursday, in his explanation on what caused the accident attributed it to the refusal of the bus driver to stop when he was asked to stop at the level crossing
Okhiria told newsmen in Lagos: “According to the information I gathered at the scene of the incident, many cars stopped when they got to the level crossing while the Lagos State Staff Bus driver continued moving, which I don’t know why.
“Maybe the driver thought he could pass before the train got nearer to him. He could not pass, then the train crushed the bus; that is what we gathered.
“The train was coming from Ijoko to Iddo.”
The managing director, who was concerned about the lives of the Lagos State staff, appealed to motorists to consider the level crossing at all times.
Okhiria said that when motorists get to the level crossing, they should not ignore the point where they should stop.
Fatal cases of vehicle-train collision have resulted in casualties over the years. The last one was recorded in December 2022 when a passenger train from Kaduna to Abuja crushed a middle-aged woman to death on the rail track around the Kubwa area of the nation’s Federal Capital Territory. Stakeholders and safety experts have repeatedly called for preventive measures to stop the recurrence but not much can be said to have been done by the concerned authorities.
Meanwhile, Governor Sanwo-Olu has visited injured victims of the crash at LASUTH.
“I am deeply saddened by the news of the train/bus accident .The vehicle was conveying staff of the Lagos state government, our staff who serve the state in different capacities,” the governor said in a statement.
“Let’s say a prayer for the families and a prayer of mercy and protection for our state. My thoughts are with the victims and their families during this difficult time.”
In the meantime, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika has directed the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau experts to commence immediate investigation into the accident.
In a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Affairs, James Odaudu, the minister described the accident as unfortunate, and assured the public of the capacity of the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) to unravel the immediate and remote causes of the accident and proffer ways of preventing such in the future.
He solicited the cooperation of members of the public as investigation by the NSIB team commences.
He commiserated with the government and people of Lagos, especially those who have lost their loved ones, on the sad event, and prayed for the quick recovery of those injured in the accident
In a related development, no fewer than 10 passengers were burnt to death on Oyo-Ogbomoso road yesterday..
The passengers, involved in a head on collision involving a Mazda and a Toyota Hiace passenger buses, were burnt beyond recognition.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) confirmed the incident in an interview with our Correspondent on Thursday in Ibadan.
The FRSC Sector Commander in the state, Joshua Adekanye, said the incident occurred at about 5.30 a.m around Kilometres12 Ijawaya on Oyo-Ogbomoso road.
He said that the buses with registration numbers LEM 963 XA and NSR 222 ZS were coming from Lagos and Nasarawa states respectively.
Adekanye said that the vehicles went on flame immediately resulting to the burning of the occupants.
He attributed the cause of the accident to speeding and over loading.
He called on motorists to always shun night travelling, speeding and over loading, adding that the fatality would have reduced if the drivers were not on night journey.
In another sad development, Five persons were killed in an auto crash on the Enugu-Awka-Onitsha Road on Thursday.
Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Enugu State, Mr Joseph Toby told our Correspondent in Enugu that 15 persons – 10 males and five females – were seriously injured in the accident.
He said the two vehicles involved in the crash had a head-on collision while using a single lane.
“Twenty persons were in the two commercial vehicles; the five that died were three male and two female occupants,’’ he said.
He added that the injured were taken to the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu and to a private hospital on the Enugu-Awka-Onitsha Expressway.
Toby said corpses of the deceased were deposited at the Colliery Hospital mortuary in Enugu.
He blamed the accident on lack of lane discipline, over-speeding and brake failure.
Eyewitnesses, however, blamed the accident on the poor state of the road which compelled many motorists to drive against traffic rather than use the failed lane of the dual-carriage way.
Similarly, five persons were burnt beyond recognition while three others sustained injuries in a fatal accident on the Badagry-Seme Expressway in Lagos on Thursday.
Sulaiman Taiwo, Unit Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) at Badagry, confirmed the accident.
He told our Correspondent that the accident occurred at AkoroVillage, on the Badagry-Sème Expressway.
The accident involved a Honda Pilot SUV with registration number LSR 772 HE and motorcycle with unidentifiable registration number.
Taiwo said the driver of the Honda Pilot must have been speeding and lost control before hitting the motorcycle laden with petrol.
“The driver of the jeep collided with the motorcycle resulting in an explosion.
“By the time we got to the scene, the raging fire had burnt three persons beyond recognition, while two others lost their lives during the rescue operation.
“Three persons that survived the inferno were taken to the General Hospital in Badagry while the five corpses were deposited at the mortuary in the same hospital,’’ he said.
Taiwo added that the prompt response by personnel of the Customs Service, Fire Brigade, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the police have restored normalcy to the area.
Similarly, Medical Director, General Hospital, Badagry, Dr Olatunde Bakare, said some relations of the dead had reported to claim the bodies, while the three survivors were receiving treatment at the Emergency Unit of the hospital.
He urged motorists and other road users to stop carrying petrol inside jerry cans in their vehicles as the rate at which the hospital was treating victims of fire incidents was alarming.
In related development, a commercial bus driver who drove in wrong way hit an oncoming car along Lagos- Abeokuta express road.
One person died instantly in the road mishap
Our Correspondent report that the Lagos portion of the old Lagos-Abeokuta express road iis in bad shape and many drivers often make use of the wrong way.
Standard Times Nigeria gathered that a commercial driver who took the wrong way also hit and killed an unsuspecting pedestrian while trying to cross the road at the Meiran end of the ever-busy express road
