At least 10 people, including three children and seven adults, lost their lives in an accident at the Abule Osun area on the Lagos-Badagary Expressway, Lagos State, on Independence Day night.
Three other persons sustained varying degrees of injuries in the accident that occurred around 11 pm Tuesday night.
According to a Wednesday statement by the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, the accident occurred when a Siena vehicle loaded to capacity rammed into a stationary truck along the highway.
He disclosed that checks reveal that the Siena vehicle was on top speed without taking cognizance of the granite-laden truck, which had taken half of the road.
Oke-Osanyintolu said, “On arrival at the scene of the road traffic accident at Abule Osun, inward Iyana Iba, along Lagos-Badagry Expressway, it was discovered that a Toyota Sienna bus, registration number BDG 342 FS, laden to capacity with passengers from the eastern part of the country was involved in a road accident with a parked SHACMAN truck, registration number unknown.
“Further investigations revealed that the truck, which was laden with granite, was parked on the road, shutting down about half of the carriageway, while the Toyota Sienna on top speed, unknowingly crashed into the parked truck from behind.
“Ten people lost their lives to the unfortunate incident, while three were critically injured. The dead passengers include three male adults, four female adults, two female children and one male child.”
He added that the injured persons were rescued by officials of the FRSC before the arrival of the LASEMA team while the deceased would be handed to the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit for necessary action.
“The injured passengers reportedly rescued and taken to a nearby hospital by officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps before the arrival of the agency’s LRT at the scene of the incident include; one female adult and two children (male and female).
“The accidental Toyota Sienna was recovered with the aid of the Agency’s Lite Tow Truck and towed to the FRSC station.
“The 10 commodities have been bagged, awaiting the arrival of the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit for evacuation of the commodities,” the LASEMA PS said.
