Lagos accident kills four, burnt six vehicles

At least four men were on Wednesday killed and six vehicles razed in an early morning accident along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

The accident which occurred around 3:00am, was said to have been caused by a diesel tanker, which lost control and rammed into a truck carrying beer, resulting to an inferno.

It driver, while on high speed, abruptly applied brakes before ramming onto the beer laden truck at Kara Bus Stop, Isheri Osun.

While three of the deceased, said to be the driver and his motorboys, were burnt beyond recognition, The Nation gathered that the other dived into the lagoon in a bid to put out the fire on their bodies but drowned.

Among the burnt vehicles were two containerised trucks, two trailers, the tanker and a Toyota Corolla saloon car.

As the emergency workers were battling to contain the Kara disaster, another petrol tanker fell at the Berger end of the Otedola Bridge, compounding traffic situation on the express.

The gridlock extended to Ikorodu Road towards Maryland, forcing traffic management agencies to divert motorists.

However, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) insisted that only three persons were consumed by the inferno, adding that the decomposed corpse found floating in the lagoon was not part of the accident casualties.

Both LASEMA’s General Manager, Adesina Tiamiyu and NEMA’s Southwest Coordinator Alhaji Suleiman Yakubu confirmed the incident.

They stated that the intervention of firemen, operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps minimised the casualty.

According to Yakubu, a driver of one of the affected vehicles sustained a minor injury, while others escaped unhurt.

Tiamiyu said: “Recovery operations of burnt vehicles with LASEMA’s heavy duty equipment ongoing to abate gridlock, which has built up on Lagos-IbadanExpressway. Traffic has affected almost every part of the expressway and Ikorodu road up to Alapere and Ogudu.

“Road users, especially articulated truck drivers are advised to avoid overspeeding and adhere to safety regulations while plying the road so as to forestall avoidable disasters.  “Investigation into the incident would be carried out by appropriate authorities at the scene.”