Less than two days after a deadly road accident claimed 10 lives in Ogun State, another tragedy struck on Sunday in the Badagry area of Lagos State, where eight persons were confirmed dead following a collision between a commercial bus and a truck.
The fatal crash occurred at Atura Bus Stop and involved a 16-seater Mazda commercial bus with registration number KJA 811 YF and a DAF truck marked T1 4636 LA.
Spokesperson for the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority Adebayo Taofiq, confirmed the incident in a statement, revealing that the accident claimed the lives of eight occupants of the bus, including the driver and his conductor.
“This tragic event has plunged the Badagry community into mourning. The magnitude of the impact left little chance for survival,” Taofiq stated.
According to him, eight other passengers were rescued by emergency responders, including personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps the Nigerian Army, and the Police.
The survivors reportedly sustained varying degrees of injuries and were promptly taken to the Badagry General Hospital for medical treatment.
“Preliminary investigations point to excessive speeding as the cause.
The bus driver lost control while attempting to maneuver at high speed and collided head-on with the truck. The impact was devastating,” the LASTMA spokesperson added.
During a visit to the crash site, LASTMA’s General Manager, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, offered condolences to the bereaved families and urged all road users to exercise extreme caution.
“This painful loss of lives is a grim reminder of the consequences of reckless driving,” Bakare-Oki said.
“We sympathize with the families of the deceased and pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.”
He also warned commercial drivers and operators of heavy-duty vehicles to avoid speeding, emphasizing the importance of adhering to road safety protocols and maintaining their vehicles.
“No journey is worth the loss of lives. We must all take road safety seriously,” he said.
Bakare-Oki added that the agency is expanding its focus from traditional traffic control to a broader incident management approach to reduce road fatalities across the state.