Three people were confirmed dead while two others sustained varying degrees of injuries in a lone accident involving a Toyota SUV on Fidiwo Bridge, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Spokesperson, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Ogun, Mrs Florence Okpe, who confirmed the incident to newsmen, in Abeokuta, yesterday, said the accident occurred around 1:07pm and involved a green Toyota SUV marked BDG 213 BJ. She said the accident was caused by a burst tyre, which led to the vehicle losing control and crashing under the bridge.
“A total of five people were involved (four men and one woman) and two got injured, while the remaining three were killed from the lone crash (two men and one woman),” she said.
Okpe said the injured victims were taken to Victory Hospital, Ogere, while the bodies were deposited at the FOS Morgue, Ipara. She advised motorists to drive within the stipulated speed limit.
Meanwhile, hope of rescuing the two passengers who fell off a bus into the Lagos Lagoon following a lone bus crash has become dim.
The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) said the remaining occupants of the bus were seriously injured. The impact of the crash, according to the Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, had left two adults thrown off an 18-seater bus into the Lagos lagoon.
Farinloye, who ames the disclosure, in a statement, added that personnel of the Marine Police were in search of the two adults, a male and a female, who fell off the LT 18-seater bus.
The crash occurred by the Adeniyi Adele axis inward Lagos Island, on the Third Mainland Bridge. He said the driver of the vehicle, who was on speed, swerved off the road and hit the bridge railings, with the impact pushing the two passengers off the bus into the Lagos lagoon.
Farinloye said personnel dispatched from the agency, joined by two teams from the Nigerian Police Marine Corps, had been assisting in the rescue operations.
“However, by now, we are not looking at the search and rescue again, but recovery. This is because the male passenger was said to have floated about three times before he was finally drowned, while the woman did not even surface at all. Therefore, the possibility of anyone of them surviving is slim,” he said.
He said the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) had, however, mobilised more local divers to join the team for the recovery operations.
The Zonal Coordinator, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Jonathan Owoade, also corroborated the explanation by the NEMA official.
Owoade said other victims in the bus had been rescued to a nearby General Hospital for treatment.
“We are on our way to the hospital to see their state of being and also commiserate with them,” he said.
He said the accident seemed to have occurred as a result of over-speeding by the driver, given the impact. Emergency response agencies were seen on ground at the scene of the accident, comprising marine police, LASEMA, FRSC, NEMA and the local divers. The bus involved in the accident damaged part of the railings, and pieces of its shattered windshield littered the scene.
Meanwhile, LASTMA, in a statement by the Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, Mr Adebayo Taofiq, said the 18 other passengers rescued in the bus accident and taken to hospital were seriously injured.
He said LASTMA officer, Olamide Ojo-Oniyun (One Alpha, Zone 1 Lagos Island), who led the recovery operations confirmed that his team had evacuated the LT Commercial bus off the road, for unhindered vehicular movement inward the Adeniji Adele area of Lagos Island.
The General Manager, LASTMA, Mr. Olalekan Bakare-Oki, also cautioned motorists to obey speed limits and ensure their vehicles are properly checked before embarking on any journey within or outside the state.
The Federal Government reopened the third mainland bridge on April 4, setting the speed limit at 80km per hour, following extensive repairs over a period of five months. Yesterday’s accident occurred on a day Muslims were celebrating the Eid-el-Fitr.
It came days after the Lagos Sector of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) reiterated the call for safe driving on the newly reopened Third Mainland Bridge, after an accident occurred on it, yesterday. A collision involving three vehicles had occurred on the bridge yesterday, the day it was fully reopened to traffic after months of partial closure.
The FRSC described yesterday’s accident, which involved three vehicles inward the Iyana Oworo axis of the bridge, as an avoidable crash, and blamed it on negligence.
The Sector Commander, Mr. Babatunde Farinloye, had said though there were no injuries from the accident, there was minor damage to the vehicle. He advised motorists to drive cautiously, reiterating the need to comply with the 80km per hour speed limit on the bridge.