For many families in Lagos, Thursday, March 9 will go down as one they would prefer never existed.
This follows the tragic collision between a moving passenger train and a bus fully loaded with passengers.
The accident resulted in the d3ath of 6 of the bus passengers while 79 sustained various degrees of injuries.
Reporting on Friday afternoon, NTA News @NTANewsNow said that:
The the staff bus with registration number i04A-48LA was conveying Lagos State government workers to the Ikeja secretariat when it crashed into the passenger train at the PWD railway crossing around 7:00am.
According to reports, no less than two women d!ed on the spot.
The victims blamed the driver for being reckless as he made to cross the level crossing at PWD, close to Shogunle on the rail corridor.
A survivor, Kazeem Abiola, who sat by the door, said the bus was midway through the rail at the Shogunle level crossing when the train crashed into it.
He said the bus had sped past the train around Ladipo Bus Stop on the Old Agege Motor Road.
When they got to the PWD level crossing, they warned the driver to slow down and wait for the train.
“He shouted us down, thinking he could speed past before the train would catch up with us,”Abiola said.
“We warned him to allow the train to go, but he was adamant.
“Everybody was shouting, cautioning him, but he cared less.
“Half of the bus had crossed the rail track before the train hit us.
“The last I heard was the crash and I passed out.
“I regained consciousness here (LASUTH Emergency Unit).”
The train, on Iddo-Ijoko Mass Transit Train Service, was operated by the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).
The victims who suffered various degrees of injuries spoke at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja.
Anuoluwapo Musa, a staff of the Lagos State Emergency Maintenance Agency (LASEMA) told The Nation that the bus, which was coming from Ikotun, picked him up at Jakande Estate.
He said he jumped and broke his arm.
“I was at the back when the incident occurred.
“I heard the bedlam as those in the front row were shouting down the driver. Not quite long, we were hit by the train.
“I was conscious enough to jump out of the bus while the train was still dragging our bus on the rail track,” he said.
Another victim said she also jumped out of the bus. She also suffered an arm injury.
The bus, which was navigating inward to Ikeja, was trapped by the train’s magnets, it was learnt.
Members of the public were swift in helping the passengers before government responders got to the scene.
Related story:
Train/BRT Collision: Driver Commences Psychiatric, Psychological and Drug Abuse Tests
BRT/Train Accident: Survivors Recount How The Tragedy Occurred
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