A yet-to-be-identified bus driver has been killed in a road accident on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway by PM Filling Station, Cele, inward Mile 2, Lagos State.
The accident, which occurred on Thursday around 1pm, involved an unregistered 40-foot containerised truck, a commercial vehicle with number plate AKD 469XZ; a black Toyota Highlander with number plate AGL 366 FP; and a black Toyota 4Runner with number plate AAA 353 FH.
It was gathered that the truck driver lost control while trying to manoeuvre the bad road, causing the container on it to fall on the vehicles.
While occupants of the two SUVs and passengers on the bus survived, the bus driver was crushed under the weight of the container.
An eyewitness, who identified herself only as Mamus for personal reasons, said the commercial driver drove against traffic.
She said, “The accident caused gridlock, I had to trek. It’s a three-lane road; those going to Cele take the third lane. The commercial bus took a one-way route, so it faced the truck and two SUVs that were coming ahead.
“The truck driver was trying to link the road leading to Ago Palace Way, but the road is bad, so in trying to manoeuvre, the container fell on the commercial bus and badly damaged the two SUVs.
“No one was injured in the SUVs and the passengers on the bus came out unhurt; the driver of the bus was stuck under the container.
“Sympathisers called some workers to pull him out but the container fell again with more impact, killing the driver. When the container first fell, the driver was still alive and was crying, but it was the impact of the container falling deeper that killed him. They had to cover him with one of those black bags; there was much blood on the road.
“The roads were being fixed and vehicles weren’t supposed to pass there. It was an unfortunate incident.”
The spokesperson for the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Taofeek Adebayo, who confirmed the incident, said the passengers suffered varying degrees of injury.
He said, “The driver died immediately while several passengers suffered varying degrees of injury. Immediately the accident happened, we never knew how the family of the driver got to know but they didn’t let the police take his corpse. They took the corpse away. Officials of the Lagos State Emergency Ambulance Service were on ground; they took care of those who sustained injuries and took them to a nearby government hospital.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident.
He said, “Only one person died. The family of the person who died took the corpse for burial.”