SIX persons, including a woman, a Danfo driver
and his conductor, were killed in two road crashes
in Lagos at the weekend.
Five of them were killed yesterday when a driver
believed to be drunk rammed into an 18-seater
commercial bus marked KRE 302 XA at the first
Lekki Toll Gate. Fourteen were injured.
The sixth victim was killed at Apongbon, Lagos
Island, when he alighted from his car to help an
accident victim.
It was gathered that the driver, who was in a
Lexus GX470 Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) marked
KJA615DF, belonging to Triple D Global Resources
Limited, was returning from a night club. He was
said to be driving against traffic.
According to witnesses, the Lexus and the bus
tumbled, killing two persons on the spot.
Sixteen, including the bus conductor, sustained
serious injuries. Three of them, including the
conductor died in the hospital, where they were
rushed to.
The Lexus driver is said to be unconscious.
The legs of the bus driver whose name was given
as Sarafa aka Baba Ikimo were shattered and
parts of his flesh still littered the scene hours
after the accident.
There were bloodstains at toll gate lane where
the accident occurred. The lane has since been
cordoned off. But an official at the toll gate said
it would be reopened tomorrow (today).
A witnesses said the Lexus driver hit some
vehicles, including a police van, at the Nigerian
Law School bus stop, and was speeding away to
escape.
Some hard drugs, a pair of scissors and empty
bottles of alcoholic driks were said to have been
found during a search of his vehicle.
A bus conductor at CMS bus stop, who refused
to be named, said the late bus driver, who was
fondly called Iso, was married and had kids. His
body has been taken to his village in Oyo State
for burial.
The conductor said the bus was coming from
Lakowe in Eti-Osa East Local Council
Development Area of the state to CMS.
“If the road was not free or if it was much later in
the day that the accident happened, the damage
would not have been this much. I learnt a lot of
people died and others that did not die sustained
serious injuries. Some broke their hands, legs and
other body parts. I wonder what came over the
jeep driver to moved against traffic,” he said.
An official at the toll gate, who also refused to be
named, said the driver was obviously drunk.
“I was not here when the accident happened but
from the information I got from my colleagues,
the driver of the jeep was drunk. They saw empty
bottles of alcoholic drinks inside his car. The road
is big enough for all cars to move freely and
conveniently, it is only a drunk man that would
have left his lane to another lane as wide as this
road is,” he said.
Another bus conductor who simply identified
himself as Baba Shola, described the accident as
unfortunate.
The Apongbon happened on Saturday night when
the motorist went to the aid of another motorist,
who collided with a trailer.
The injured motorist was said to have been
trapped in his Honda vehicle marked APP304DV
and the other motorist parked his BMWX5
(KSF339BK) to assist him.
A commercial bus marked BDG68XH also stopped
to help the victim.
While helping the driver off his car, an oncoming
vehicle ran them over and sped away.
The BMW X5 driver died on the spot; the trapped
victim and the bus driver were injured.
Among first responders at the scene of the Lekki
accident were the Lagos State Emergency
Management Agency (LASEMA) Response Unit,
Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS),
Rapid Response Squad (RRS), the police, State
Environmental Monitoring Unit (SEHMU) and
Lekki Concession Company (LCC) officials. They
managed traffic, controlled the crowd and gave
medical care to the victims, who were later
moved to the General Hospital at Marina and the
Trauma Centre at the old Lagos-Ibadan
Expressway Toll Gate.
LASEMA light tow truck removed the vehicles
from the scene and handed them over to LCC
officials, who moved them to the police station.
LASEMA General Manager Adesina Tiamiyu, said
the injured were moved to the Trauma Centre
and the Marina General Hospital.
He said the agency was alerted around 6.49am to
the toll gate accident, adding :“Investigation
carried out by the agency’s response team on
getting to the scene revealed that a Lexus Jeep
GX470 marked KJA-615DF plying one way
rammed into a commercial bus (KRE-302XA) that
was just cleared by the ticketing officers at the
toll gate.
“A total of four fatalities was recorded which
includes three males and a female. 16 casualties
with severe injuries were recorded including four
females and 12 males. The driver of the jeep was
taken to the General Hospital at Marina.
“Our men and other stakeholders had to ensure
free flow of traffic. They had to control crowd,
assisted injured victims with first aid before
moving them to the hospital.
“We are not happy when there are avoidable
losses of lives. The Lekki accident could have
been avoided if the driver had stayed back at the
place he went to.
“For the Apongbon accident, operatives of the
agency were at the scene to ensure traffic
management to avoid secondary accident. The
affected vehicles were recovered and towed to
Ebute Ero Police Station.
“We have said it many times that people should
not drive when they drink. I can assure you that
these accidents would be thoroughly investigated
and appropriate actions taken.
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