On Wednesday, a BRT car crashed into a market fence at Alapere in the Ketu region of Lagos State, leaving at least three people dead and numerous others hurt.
Three persons were confirmed dead and several others injured on Wednesday when a Bus Rapid Transit vehicle rammed into a market fence at Alapere in the Ketu area of Lagos State.
The BRT, with number plate KSF-940XX, was reported to have had a brake failure when the incident happened around 7 am. The driver lost control and rammed into the wall, hitting another commercial bus loading passengers.
The BRT driver allegedly fled the scene while the victims passed away instantly.
Chukwuemeka Sunday, an eyewitness, claimed that a wheelbarrow pusher, an apprentice trying to cross the road, and a woman going from the market were all struck by the BRT car.
The father of the apprentice, identified as Lekan, broke down in tears on arriving at the scene. “Death has wasted all my effort in life,” he muttered in Yoruba.
“The completion of his apprenticeship as a butcher was supposed to be on November 19. Death has wasted all my efforts and the money that I put into Lekan’s life,” the distraught father added.
Another eyewitness, Kelvin Olabode, lamented the condition of BRT vehicles in the area.
He said, “That BRT bus had a brake failure and rammed into people standing to board buses to Ikorodu. Three people died instantly and several others were injured. One of the deceased persons was crushed beyond recognition, with her brains splashed on the ground.
“Not all these BRT buses have brakes. They are used to dragging the road with smaller vehicles. Everyone is hustling like them. I saw the wheelbarrow pusher this morning hustling for his daily bread, but now he is gone.”
The LASTMA Director of Public Affairs, Taofiq Adebayo, said the accident occurred around 7 am and claimed three lives.
He said, “The accident involved a red BRT bus which had a brake failure, and a Volkswagen, popularly called Danfo.
“Preliminary investigation shows that the accident took the lives of three pedestrians waiting to board buses around the Ketu axis.
“The three dead persons were taken by the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit to a mortuary and the eight people seriously injured were taken to a general hospital by the Lagos State Ambulance Service.”
