A woman died and six other passengers were injured on Saturday after a Volkswagen commercial bus veered off the road and crashed into a culvert at Newcastle Bus Stop on the Apapa–Oworonsoki Expressway.

The bus, with registration number LSD 654 XY, reportedly lost control before ramming into the culvert.

The impact threw a female passenger out of the vehicle onto the expressway. An oncoming articulated trailer could not stop in time and ran over her, leading to her immediate death.

The Guardian learnt that the body of the deceased was bagged at about 2:56 p.m., while emergency responders attended to the injured.

Officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) managed traffic and coordinated emergency response around the Gbagada axis. To prevent a secondary crash, the agency temporarily closed the expressway to allow for the evacuation of the victims and the wreckage of the bus.

Six other occupants of the vehicle, including the driver, sustained varying degrees of injury, while the driver of the articulated trailer reportedly fled the scene.

Security personnel from the Pedro Police Division assisted traffic officials and emergency responders in maintaining order at the accident site.

Officials of the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS) later evacuated the injured, including the driver who reportedly suffered a fractured leg, to a nearby hospital for treatment. Personnel of the Lagos State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU) removed the remains of the deceased from the scene.

After the evacuation, LASTMA operatives cleared the obstruction and normal vehicular movement was restored on the expressway.

The General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, commiserated with the family of the deceased and reiterated the agency’s commitment to public enlightenment on road safety.

He urged vehicle owners and commercial transport operators to ensure their vehicles, particularly braking systems, are in proper condition before embarking on journeys, stressing that routine maintenance is essential to preventing road crashes and protecting lives on the highways.