One dies in multiple truck crash along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

•Passengers trek long distances as motorists hike fare

One person was confirmed dead yesterday following a multiple auto crash on Kara Bridge along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The Guardian gathered that the crash involved an articulated truck laden with several rolls of coils of steel and a 40ft container.

It was gathered that the truck, which was out-bound Lagos in a bid to avoid collision with a 40-foot container on the road, lost control and fell on its side resulting in the discharge of its cargoes (coils of steel) on the Kara Bridge carriageway.

As a result of the intensity of the incident, the head of the truck was severed thereby completely obstructing vehicular movement on the road.
The resultant gridlock extended to Alapere, Ketu, forcing many trapped commuters to continue their journey on foot. The situation led to scarcity of buses, resulting in a hike in transport fares.

For instance, a bus ride to Oshodi increased from between N800 and N1000 to between N1200 and N1500.
A commuter, who lives in Magboro, Ugwu Ogbu, said he spent N1000 to get to Berger, which normally goes between N500 and N700 because of the scarcity of vehicles.

On reaching Berger, Ogbu said he trekked to Secretariat when he could not get a bus to Berger.

Also, impatient commercial bus drivers started driving against traffic, which resulted in secondary crashes, specifically on the outward Berger inward Otedola Bridge section. Further investigations revealed that a bus was involved in a head-on collision with a police patrol van that was driving against traffic (one-way).

Fortunately, no fatalities were recorded in the incident, but the five occupants of the bus, including the driver and conductor, sustained various degrees of injuries.

The injured victims received immediate medical attention from the Agency’s Pre-Hospital Care Unit and LASAMBUS, while two of the victims were subsequently transported to the hospital for further medical attention.

Confirming the incident on Kara Bridge, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, said the agency received a distress call on it emergency toll-free line at about 4:26a.m., and activated its Emergency Response Plans and Response Team from Command and Control Centre, Alausa, Ikeja.

“Upon arrival at the incident scene, LASEMA’s Tiger Response Team discovered that a Truck, registration unknown laden with several rolls of coils of steel and a 40ft container without the Truck head were found to have been involved in a road accident thereby completely obstructing vehicular movement at the aforementioned location,” he said.

According to him, investigation conducted by the Agency’s Response Team revealed that the articulated truck driver who was on motion, in a bid to avoid collision with a 40-foot container on the road lost control and fell on it’s side resulting in the discharge of it’s cargoes (coils of steel) on the carriageway.He stressed that an unidentified adult male driver lost his life to the incident and the body had been taken away before arrival of the Agency’s Response Team.

Dr Oke-Osanyintolu noted that the road has been set free for vehicular movement after collaborative effort, emergency responders were able to recover the impediments off road.