Three-year-old pupil, three others killed in Ogun accident
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A three-year-old boy, Excel Ndubuisi, hurrying to school around 8am on Wednesday met untimely death at the Kara end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ogun State, after he was crushed to death by an articulated truck which developed a mechanical fault.
His mother, Sunshine, who was said to be pregnant, reportedly sustained a fracture, while a motorcycle rider who was taking them to school, escaped with minor injuries.
However, the three occupants of the truck, one of whom was identified as Adewole Adebukola, were killed; their mangled remains were recovered from the Isheri Olofin River under the Kara Bridge by local divers and emergency management workers from Lagos and Ogun states.
When one of our correspondents visited the scene of the incident, he saw the pupil’s schoolbag, which was stuffed with notebooks and a neatly packed extra school uniform. The yellow uniform was soaked with blood.
Excel’s broken water bottle jutted out from the bag.
One of the mother’s red pair of shoes was still stuck to the Honda motorcycle, which had been put in a police truck.
The bodies of the victims were enclosed in body bags and put into a van belonging to the Federal Road Safety Corps.
The bodies were reportedly deposited in the morgue of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu.
Officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, Lagos State Fire Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Lagos State Ambulance Service, and policemen from the Ojodu Abiodun and Isheri divisions were seen struggling to remove the wreckage from the road to free the gridlock that had stretched to the Ojota area of Lagos State.
A witness, Sulaiman Ademola, said he was under the Kara bridge when he heard a bang.
He said, “The accident happened on the Kara bridge. I was under the bridge when I heard a bang. The noise made me to run in panic and I saw the head of the truck detach and fall into the river. I came on the bridge and saw the boy’s dead body. His mother’s leg was trapped under the container. Although the motorcycle was on the bridge, the rider had escaped.”
Another witness, who did not identify himself, however, said the motorcycle rider fell into the Isheri Olofin River and swam out.
He said he fled the area to avoid being arrested and linked to the accident.
“It happened after the truck had a burst tyre. The driver lost control and hit the concrete barrier on the Kara bridge, which made the truck head to detach and fall into the river. The motorcycle rider and his passengers, who were behind the truck, were hit by the container,” he added.
PUNCH Metro observed no fewer than four cranes and trucks of the Lagos Response Unit at the scene.
The General Manager, LASEMA, Adesina Tiamiyu, said the accident happened around 8.25am, adding that the agency deployed men and machines in the scene.
“On arrival, we discovered that a 20-foot containerised truck laden with hydraulic oil had a brush with a commercial motorcycle. The truck, which had no number plate, was travelling inward Kara. The head of the truck detached and plunged into the Isheri Olofin River, while the container was on the bridge.
“Unfortunately, a three-year-old boy, who was on the motorcycle, died, while the boy’s mother and the motorcycle rider were saved and taken to the trauma centre for medical attention. The truck head that plunged into the water was retrieved with the combined efforts of our men and local divers who were engaged to help us. Three adult males were recovered dead from the truck head. Operatives of the FRSC, OP MESA, police, among others, gave us security cover for a seamless recovery, ” he said.
Adesina, who said proper investigation would be conducted into the incident, warned drivers of articulated vehicles against speeding when travelling within towns.
The Deputy Corps Commander, FRSC, Head of Operations, Lagos State, Morakinyo Olalekan, said the accident was caused by a tyre burst.
He said, “The trailer had a tyre burst, which made the driver to lose control and hit a commercial motorcyclist. The head of the trailer fell into the river under the Kara Bridge. There were five casualties. Four were killed, while one was injured. Nobody knows where the truck was going. Sadly, the people who could have given the information are all dead.”
Olalekan said it was wrong for motorcycle riders to ply expressways, adding that motorists should always check their vehicles for mechanical faults, which he said were responsible for the accident.
The Akute-Ojodu Divisional Commander, TRACE, Ami Ganiu, said officials of the agency assisted to clear the traffic which resulted from the accident.
He said the crash was regrettable because it could have been prevented if precautions were taken.
The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the incident.
He promised to call back after getting details from the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the area. He had yet to do so as of press time.
A source at the Accident and Emergency Centre, Toll Gate, Ojota, Lagos, where the pregnant woman was taken to said she had yet to be informed of her son’s death.
The source noted that although her condition was stable, she needed to see an obstetrician.
“She is doing fine. Her leg is injured, but not that much. She will need to see an obstetrician for us to determine the condition of the baby in her womb. Her husband has been contacted and he is on the way to see her,” the source said.
Source: Punch
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