No fewer than seven persons have been confirmed dead, while others sustained injuries, in an accident involving a moving train and a Lagos State government Staff bus, at Shogunle area of Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday.
One of the survivors of the accident, simply called Titilayo, revealed that they begged the driver of the bus to wait for the train to pass, but he refused.
“The incident happened around 7.15 am. When we got to the intersection at PWD in Ikeja, the driver continued driving. Passengers inside the bus, including myself, begged him to wait for the train to pass before crossing, but he didn’t listen.
“Midway, just before he could finish crossing the rail tracks, the accident happened. Many of us were rushed here, while five others were taken to Gbagada General Hospital.”
Also, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency and the Nigerian Railway Corporation blamed the driver of a Lagos State Government staff bus for the fatal train accident.
Giving reasons for the deadly crash, the Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, told journalists that the bus driver ignored signals from the NRC officials as he was in a hurry to cross the rail.
Also, the NRC, in a statement by its Deputy Director Public Relations, Yakub Mahmood, said the bus failed to obey the instruction of the corporation officials as he overtook other vehicles waiting for the train to pass.
The Federal Government has ordered an investigation into the accident.
When the bus with registration number 04A- 48LA, struck the train at the PWD rail crossing, it was travelling from the Government Residential Area in Ikeja to the state secretariat in Alausa.
The railway was reported to be travelling to Ido from Ijoko, Ogun State, while the bus was stated to be arriving from Isolo.
According to eyewitnesses, the train dragged the bus on its rail for about 100 metres from PWD to Sogunle before getting stuck.
Some panic-stricken passengers of the bus, especially those close to the exit doors, reportedly made frantic efforts to jump off the bus being dragged by the train.
By the time the train and the bus finally stopped on the rail, the bus passengers fell upon one another in their attempts to find their way out of the trapped vehicle.
Two passengers were said to have died on the spot while others sustained various degrees of injuries.
Rescue workers who were mobilised to the scene evacuated the victims and rushed them to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.
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