By BANNERNEWS Reporter
The General Manager of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Olalekan Bakare-Oki, has confirmed the death of a passenger and injuries to six others following a road accident on Sunday morning at New Castle Bus Stop, inward Gbagada, along the Oworonsoki–Apapa Expressway in Lagos.
Bakare-Oki said preliminary reports indicated that a Volkswagen commercial bus with registration number LSD 654 XY veered off the road and rammed into a roadside culvert along the corridor.
He explained that the impact of the crash threw a female passenger out of the vehicle onto the expressway, while six other occupants sustained serious injuries.
According to him, in a tragic turn of events, an oncoming articulated trailer could not stop in time and ran over the passenger who had fallen on the roadway, resulting in her instant death.
LASTMA officials monitoring traffic around the Gbagada axis swiftly responded by activating emergency traffic control measures to prevent a secondary crash and manage the situation.
The agency temporarily cordoned off the expressway to allow for the evacuation of the deceased, the injured victims and the wreckage of the commercial bus involved in the accident.
Bakare-Oki added that six passengers, including the driver who reportedly suffered a fractured leg, sustained varying degrees of injuries in the crash.
He said the driver of the articulated trailer fled the scene immediately after the incident.
Security personnel from the Pedro Police Division later arrived at the scene to provide support and maintain order during the rescue operation.
Officials of the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS) evacuated the injured victims to a nearby medical facility for treatment, while the Lagos State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU) removed the body of the deceased passenger.
Following the evacuation exercise, LASTMA officials cleared the wreckage and restored normal traffic flow on the expressway.
Bakare-Oki also extended condolences to the family of the deceased, praying that they find the strength to bear the painful loss.
