Two lives were lost in a crash on Eko Bridge, Lagos State, involving yet-to-be-identified individuals. The incident has also left at least five individuals injured, pointing to the severity of the situation.
Confirming the incident in an official statement on Wednesday, Taofiq Adebayo, who holds the position of Director in the Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, reported the occurrence. The collision, which involved a total of six private vehicles, featured a fully loaded ‘MAC’ truck with the plate number T-1501 LA.
He said, ‘Operatives of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority with other emergency responders today carried out an emergency operation at the scene of a fatal accident on Eko Bridge inward the Alaka area of the state.’
‘LASTMA Akinde Olusola ‘Zebra’ (Zone 3 Iponri) who led the rescue team confirmed that the accident recorded two deaths, with five others seriously injured.’
‘He confirmed further that the fatal accident involved six private vehicles including a fully loaded ‘MAC’ truck with number plate (T-1501 LA).’
Based on Adebayo’s report, a preliminary probe revealed that the heavily loaded ‘MAC’ truck, running at a high rate of speed, collided with five different privately owned vehicles. This collision, attributed to a failure in braking systems, involved a commercial minibus within its impact.
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In addition, he noted that the five individuals who survived the accident, as well as the two unfortunate fatalities, were immediately transferred to a nearby general hospital. This transfer was facilitated through the use of an ambulance owned by the LASEMA Response Unit.
Adebayo said, ‘Those six vehicles involved in the fatal accident include a fully loaded truck (T-150 IL), Lexus Jeep (LSP 795 EW), Toyota Camry (AKD 606 HH), Toyota (LND 217 GX), mini-bus (FKJ 77 YG and (LSR 952 HZ).’
‘The General Manager of LASTMA, Bolaji Oreagba, cautioned motorists especially truck drivers to always ensure their vehicles are in good condition before embarking on any journey across the state.’
‘While maintaining that the agency would not relent in enlightening motorists, particularly commercial bus drivers on inherent dangers involved in overspeeding, he, however, sent his condolences to families of the deceased.’
He further mentioned that the response team present at the accident site were the LASEMA Response Unit, the Federal Road Safety Corps, and officers from the Iponri Divisional Police Station.