LAGOS: No fewer than five staff of the Lagos State Government are feared dead and many others sustained varying degrees of injuries when a staff bus and a commercial train had a head-on collision along Agege Motor Road in the state.
Three of the victims of the accident died on the spot while two others gave up the ghost while they were been taken to the hospital for medical attention.
Sources revealed that the medical doctors at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital Ikeja are critically battling to save the lives of the admitted victims due to the fatal injuries they sustained during the accident.
The accident occurred around PWD bus stop when the bus was about to cross the rail track and during the process, it collided with the fast-moving train at the location.
The accident was however blamed the staff bus driver who insisted on passing the rail line before the train arrived, despite the warning by the railway security guards who stopped the vehicle.
The source who pleaded anonymity disclosed that while the BRT bus was trying to maneuver the rail, one of the back tyres got stuck on the rail and the fast-moving train coming from the Oshodi end collided with it, dragging it to as far as Ikeja Along before coming to a halt.
Rescue workers are on ground evacuating the injured to the hospital for attention. As of the time of this report, the number of casualties had yet to be ascertained.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), its Lagos counterpart, LASEMA, and the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) confirmed the early Thursday morning accident claimed that it was only three people that died.
The accident which involved an ill-fated Lagos State Government staff bus with number plate 04A- 48LA compounded gridlock around the axis, reducing the travel time of motorists.
The southwest coordinator, NEMA, Ibrahim Farinloye, and Permanent Secretary, LASEMA, Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, in separate statements described the accident as a tragedy.
Oke-Osanyintolu said: “Investigation gathered revealed that the immediate cause of the incident could be attributed to the reckless driving on the part of the staff bus driver while trying to beat the train traffic signal before the moving train rammed into the BRT bus.”
