At least three persons have died and several others injured, in multiple accidents that occurred along the Maryland axis of Lagos State in the early hours of Sunday.
The incident was confirmed by the Head of the Public Affairs Unit of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Nosa Okunbor, in a statement on Sunday.
According to Okunbor, the first accident occurred when a diesel-laden tanker experienced brake failure and rammed into several vehicles.
He explained that LASEMA officials arrived that the scene of the accident around 1 am and they discovered another crash which involved a containerised truck that had collided with a MACK truck, leaving the container truck driver with a leg injury.
Okunbor identified the vehicles involved in the accidents as two Volkswagen Vanagon commercial buses, one Mitsubishi Space Bus, two mini-buses (Korope), and one Honda car.
He said, “Upon the arrival of the LASEMA Response Teams at the scene of the incident at 0113hrs, the LRT encountered a multiple-vehicle accident involving an oil tanker, registration number unknown, fully laden with diesel.
“The tanker reportedly suffered a mechanical failure (brake failure) while in motion, lost control, and crashed into several cars, resulting in numerous casualties.
“The second accident involved an articulated truck, registration number unknown, carrying a fully loaded 40-foot container, which reportedly collided with a MACK truck, also unregistered, loaded with refill industrial bottles. The crash was attributed to reckless driving and speeding.
“Sadly, three fatalities were reported in the multiple accidents, with the bodies removed before the LRTs arrived. An unspecified number of people were critically injured and had already been taken to various hospitals by the time the LRTs reached the scene.”
He added that emergency responders were able to secure the area and implement critical safety and traffic control measures, which led to the temporary closure of the road and bridge.
The LASEMA spokesperson continued, “Recovery efforts for the accident trucks and other vehicles began immediately upon the arrival of equipment at the scene.
“The two LASEMA Response Teams, along with other responders, worked tirelessly to recover all vehicles involved in the road accident and to alleviate the traffic gridlock caused by the incident.”
Other emergency responders at the scene included, the police, and operatives from the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service.
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
