Two people on Tuesday escaped death after a Volkswagen commercial bus, laden with vegetables, collided with a 40ft truck in the Ojota area of Lagos State.
The victims, a man and a woman, who were trapped in the bus, were rescued by the operatives of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and other emergency responders.
They sustained various degrees of injuries due to the accident, and are currently receiving medical attention at the Accident and Emergency Centre at 7-Up (old Toll Gate).
The accident happened at the New Garage by Odo Iya-Alaro area of Ojota.
“The accident was particularly alarming due to ongoing rehabilitation work on the Odo Iya-Alaro bridge,” said the General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki.
According to the Head, Public Affairs Unit – LASEMA, Nosa Okunbor, investigations revealed that the accident occurred when the bus while on high speed rammed into the articulated truck from behind.
Okunbor said: “In response to distress calls received by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, through the 767/112 Toll-Free Emergency lines at 0443hrs, the Agency activated its Tiger Response Team from the Command and Control Centre, Alausa, Ikeja.
“Upon arrival of the Tiger Team at the incident scene at 0505hrs, it was observed that a commercial vehicle (yellow bus), registration number APP 209XZ had collided with an articulated truck, registration number T4845LA, laden with a 40ft container and became stuck, and in the process trapped two victims inside the bus.
“Further investigations conducted at the incident scene revealed that the accident occurred when the commercial vehicle (yellow bus), while on high speed rammed into the slow-moving articulated truck that was in a traffic gridlock, from behind, thereafter obstructing vehicular activities in that axis of the state.”
Frontal parts of the commercial vehicle was heavily impacted by the crash. It is almost a write-off.