Three persons were killed and six injured yesterday in an accident at Ilasamaja Bus Stop on Oshodi-Apapa Expressway in Lagos.
A worker of Makasa Sun Nigeria Limited, a civil engineering construction firm, identified as Odejayi Adebola, and a Ladipo Auto Spare Parts Market trader were among the dead.
The accident occurred when the open-box bed of an empty truck marked MEK 695 XA hit a concrete signpost, which fell on a commercial Coaster bus coming behind it. The vehicles were heading for Oshodi from Mile 2.
The bus was loading passengers at the bus stop. The conductors’s legs were broken, but the driver was uninjured.
The truck was said to be speeding when the accident happened around 8a.m. The driver has been arrested. He was said to have been cautioned after Cele Bus stop to bring down the truck’s crane, but he refused.
It was a moving scene, with many of the passengers either dead or writhing in pains. Some broke their limbs; one of them was said to have broken his spinal cord.
One of the dead was said to have called his office to inform them of the accident before he died.
Sympathisers claimed that help did not come on time for the victims.
Traffic was at a stand still for about three hours after the crash because of the crowd that thronged the scene. The police, officials of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Lagos Neighbourhood Corps (LNC) and Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS), among others, were at the scene.
Ilasamaja Police Station operatives took the truck away.
An official of LNC was injured in the forehead while trying to disperse the crowd to facilitate rescue work.
LASAMBUS officials gave the injured first aid, including drip and oxygen for those in critical condition.
LASEMA General Manager Adesina Tiamiyu urged motorists to ensure they drive within the approved speed limit, and also watch out for road signs and other impediments to avoid fatal crashes.