A crash involving three vehicles – Mazda commercial bus, a tricycle, and a white Camry car – has claimed the life of a man around Mosalasi roundabout, inward the Iyana-Ipaja area of Lagos State.
While on top speed, the driver of the Camry car with number plate KJA 351 HG was said to have rammed into the tricycle, causing the operator to lose control, and obstructing an incoming Mazda commercial bus loaded with passengers.
At least three persons reportedly sustained varying degrees of injury in the crash as relatives of the injured victims and others, in an attempt to rescue the injured victims, rushed them to nearby hospitals for treatments.
In a statement on Monday, the Director of Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Mr Taofiq Adebayo said that one of the injured victims died before getting to the hospital, adding the agency’s General Manager, Mr Bolaji Oreagba said the accident would have been averted if the driver was not driving at top speed.
The statement said: “Operatives of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority today rescued three severely injured accident victims comprising two males and one female at Mosalasi Roundabout, inward the Iyana-Ipaja area of Lagos.
“LASTMA Akanji Wasiu (Bravo 16), who led the rescue operations confirmed that the accident involved three vehicles, a Mazda commercial bus, FKJ 88 XH, a tricycle with number plate KJA 369 QM, and a white Camry car, KJA 351 HG, on the main carriageway at the Iyana-Ipaja area of Lagos.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the driver of a white Camry car lost control due to excessive speeding and hit a commercial tricycle from the rear while the tricycle went off balance and obstructed another incoming fully loaded Mazda commercial bus going to Iyana-Ipaja”.
Explaining that the three rescued victims were immediately rushed to different hospitals by their relatives but, unfortunately, one of the rescued victims, a male, reportedly died on the way to the hospital.
Adebayo also noted that the vehicles involved in the accident were immediately removed from the road to avoid impeding the free flow of traffic and were handed over to policemen from the Gowon Estate Divisional Police Headquarters for further investigations.
“One of the passengers inside the commercial tricycle involved in the accident was caught with more than 100 pieces of used small children ‘diapers pampers’ with a huge sum of money of different denominations and was immediately handed over to policemen at the scene of the accident”, he added.
Adebayo said Oreagba maintained that the government had been embarking on regular public education on the dangers inherent in excessive speeding by private, commercial, and truck drivers in the state.
He said, “Oreagba, however, warned every motoring public to always ensure that their vehicles are in good condition, particularly the break before driving them on Lagos roads”.
