LAWMA official dies as bus rams into truck in Lagos
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) says one person was killed and another injured in a road accident involving a commercial bus and a truck at Anthony end of Ikorodu Road, Lagos State.
A driver with the Lagos State Waste Management Authority, Godya Lekya, and his motor boy, Tanko Thomas, have lost their lives in a crash at the Anthony end of Ikorodu Road, Lagos State.
National Press Newspaper gathered that the accident involved a LAWMA truck driven by Lekya and a BRT bus.
Our correspondent gathered that the truck driver was speeding and had tried to evade the BRT bus when it crashed into the median, in front of the Conoil Filling Station.
The truck was said to have somersaulted several times before it landed on the driver and motor boy.
The duo reportedly died on the spot.
Policemen from the Anthony division, joined by some officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, were said to have removed the dismembered bodies from the road.
A source said the incident happened around 10pm on Wednesday.
She said, “The accident involved a LAWMA truck, with the number plate, SMK 387 XR, and a BRT bus. The accident was caused by the truck driver, who was speeding. Some LASEMA officials came to remove the two vehicles from the road.”
When our correspondent visited the scene of the incident on Thursday, he observed that the truck had been towed to Idi-Iroko bus stop.
At Anthony, where the accident occurred, some of the personal effects of the victims could be seen on the road.
A witness, who did not want to be identified, said the truck tyre burst.
She said, “The tyre on the driver’s side burst while the man was speeding. As he tried to control it, the truck veered off the road. His motor boy was on top of the truck. As the driver tried to jump out, the truck fell on him and the motor boy.”
Another witness said the Lagos Response Unit workers diverted traffic while clearing the wreakage.
A statement on Tuesday by Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, LASEMA permanent secretary, said the incident occurred at about 11:59pm on Monday at Ketu bus stop.
Oke-Osanyintolu noted that a yellow commercial minibus rammed into a parked truck, killing a Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) official and leaving the bus driver severely injured.
“Following distress alerts at 23:59hrs, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, activated the State’s Emergency Response Plans from the Command and Control Centre, Alausa,” the statement reads.
“Upon arrival of LASEMA’s tiger response team at the incident scene by 00:07hrs, it was discovered that a registered commercial (yellow) minibus popularly known as (korope), with registration number AGL 97 YK, collided with a parked LAWMA truck, registration number unknown.”
He said preliminary investigation revealed that the accident happened due to reckless driving from the minibus driver and “carelessness on the part of the LAWMA truck which did not indicate its parked status with a C-Caution sign”.
The LASEMA secretary added that the affected vehicles have been towed off the road for free flow of traffic.
“Further investigations revealed that in the process of the accident, the minibus hit a LAWMA official performing his lawful duties. Unfortunately, the LAWMA official died before arrival of the agency’s response teams,” Oke-Osanyintolu said.
“However, driver of the accident minibus sustained significant injuries and was given immediate medical attention by paramedics from the agency’s pre-hospital care unit at the incident scene.”
