A female passenger has died in a tragic road accident after she fell out of a commercial bus following a crash and was subsequently run over by an oncoming articulated truck along the Oworonsoki–Apapa Expressway in Lagos.
The fatal incident occurred at New Castle Bus Stop inward Gbagada, leaving six other passengers with serious injuries.
The spokesperson of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Adebayo Taofiq, confirmed the accident in a statement issued on Sunday.
According to him, the crash involved a Volkswagen commercial bus with registration number LSD 654 XY, which reportedly lost control and rammed into a roadside culvert.
“Reports revealed that a Volkswagen commercial bus (LSD 654 XY) veered off course and violently rammed into a roadside culvert along the corridor,” he said.
Taofiq explained that the impact of the collision caused one of the passengers to fall from the vehicle onto the expressway.
“The impact of the collision forcefully ejected a female passenger from the vehicle onto the expressway, with six others seriously injured with multiple fractures.”
Moments later, tragedy struck when an approaching truck could not stop in time.
“In a tragic turn of events, an oncoming articulated trailer approaching the scene was unable to forestall the sudden occurrence and consequently ran over the passenger who had fallen on the roadway, resulting in her immediate death,” Taofiq stated.
The six other occupants of the bus, including the driver, sustained varying degrees of injuries.
Officials of LASTMA quickly secured the accident scene to prevent further crashes while emergency responders carried out rescue operations.
Personnel from the Lagos State Ambulance Service transported the injured victims to a nearby hospital for treatment, while officers of the Lagos State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit evacuated the body of the deceased from the roadway.
Reacting to the incident, the General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, expressed condolences to the family of the deceased and wished the injured victims a speedy recovery.
He also urged motorists, particularly commercial vehicle operators, to ensure their vehicles are properly maintained.
Bakare-Oki advised drivers to pay special attention to vehicle safety, especially braking systems, to prevent avoidable road accidents.
