A tragic multi-vehicle crash on Wednesday morning claimed the lives of a father, mother and their young child at Secretariat inward Otedola Bridge along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway.
The fatal accident, which occurred in the early hours of the day, also left two other individuals critically injured.
According to the spokesperson of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Adebayo Taofiq, the crash involved three vehicles — an Audi, a Toyota Camry and a Toyota Corolla — and was triggered by a heavily loaded truck travelling at high speed.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the truck rammed into one of the vehicles from behind, causing it to lose control and collide with two others in a fatal chain reaction.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the incident involved three vehicles (Audi, Toyota Camry & Toyota Corolla) initiated when a heavily loaded truck travelling at excessive speed violently struck one of the vehicles from the rear.
“The impact caused the vehicle to lose control, colliding with two additional moving vehicles thereby triggering the fatal chain-reaction accident,” Adebayo said in a statement.
In a disturbing turn, the truck driver fled the scene immediately with his vehicle, abandoning the victims and evading responsibility for the deadly incident.
LASTMA officials worked alongside other emergency responders to rescue survivors and recover the deceased.
Two critically injured victims were extricated from the wreckage and taken by the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS) to the Lagos State Emergency and Trauma Centre, Toll-Gate, for urgent medical treatment.
The three deceased family members were found trapped together inside one of the vehicles and were later handed over to the Lagos State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU) for evacuation.
Security personnel from the Isheri Olowora Police Division provided support during the rescue operation, while LASTMA cleared the damaged vehicles from the expressway to prevent secondary accidents.
The coordinated emergency response involved the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS), SEHMU and the Lagos Fire & Rescue Service.
LASTMA General Manager, Mr. Olalekan Bakare-Oki, expressed deep sorrow over the irreplaceable loss of the family, praying for divine comfort for their relatives and a quick recovery for the injured.
He condemned the excessive speeding that caused the accident and urged motorists, especially operators of articulated and heavy-duty trucks, to exercise caution and adhere to speed limits.
Bakare-Oki reaffirmed LASTMA’s commitment to improving traffic surveillance and enforcing safety regulations to avert similar tragedies on Lagos roads.
THE WHISTLER reports that Wednesday’s incident occurred less than three days after two people were killed and two others injured in two separate accidents that occurred in Lagos in the early hours of Monday.
The first fatal crash happened around 2:30 a.m. at Otedola Bridge inward Berger on the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway.
Preliminary findings revealed that an unregistered vehicle with two occupants was travelling at high speed when it rammed into a heavily laden moving trailer.
The force of the impact reportedly led to the immediate death of both occupants, while the trailer driver fled the scene with the vehicle.
The second crash occurred around 5:00 a.m. on the Third Mainland Bridge, near the UNILAG waterfront inward Lagos Island.
It involved an empty tanker and a pure-water distribution van, with two individuals sustaining severe injuries.
