A yet-to-be-identified male roadside traffic hawker has been killed while ten others sustained varying degrees of injuries in a multiple auto crash on Kara bridge along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Thursday morning.
The vehicles involved were a Mack truck with number plate T 6337 LA, a commercial Toyota bus and five other vehicles.
The traffic report indicated that the driver of the MACK truck was responsible for the crash, having slept off on the wheel, making the container laden truck tam into other vehicles from behind.
Speaking on the incident, the Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, Babatunde Akinbiyi said “According to preliminary investigation, the driver of the accident truck slept on the wheel which led to ramming into the other vehicles.”
He explained that the crash led to gridlock but operatives of TRACE, Police, and Federal Road Safety Corps were on ground to rescue the victims involved as well as to ease the traffic.
Akinbiyi said that the accident occurred outbound Lagos- Ibadan expressway, and apart the MACK truck he gave the list of other
vehicles viz Toyota Camry MUS 470 HE, Toyota Land cruiser KWE 815 TC,3.Toyota Hiace FGG 685 XV,5. Toyota Sienna RSH 492 CE, Lexus FST 904 HK and Turbo AGL 323 XL.
He gave the total number of occupants of the vehicles as 28 made up of 12 males and 16 fem es.
Akinbiyi said the corpse of the hawker has been taken to the morgue by the family while the injured victims taken to Accident and Emergency Centre by operatives of the FRSC.
However, the FRSC Sector Commander in Ogun State, Ahmed Umar, told Channels Television that a traffic hawker was killed in the unfortunate accident, adding that emergency responders are still rescuing those injured.
Umar attributed the cause of the accident to brake failure by the truck whose driver rammed into the vehicles in front of him from behind.
Giving a situation report on the multiple traffic incident at Kara bridge inward Ibafo, Ogun State, Dr Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu
Permanent Sectary Lagos State Emergency Management Agency LASEMA said when the Agency responded to the incident they discovered upon arrival that a containerized truck while in motion lost control. Brake failure resulted failed a multi car incident comprising seven vehicles. A GUO transport bus and a Volkswagen were severely affected, with the Volkswagen falling beneath the Kara bridge.
An adult male lost his life, while a second adult male sustained several injuries and has been transferred to a nearby hospital.
The LRT, LASTMA official, FRSC, and the Nigerian police are the responders at the scene of the incident.