14 die, 9 injured in Lagos-Badagry Expressway auto crash
No fewer than 14 people, including a four-month-old baby, died on Sunday morning in an auto accident along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway in Lagos.
Mr. Williams Manga, Unit Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps, disclosed this in Badagry on Sunday.
Manga said that nine other people sustained injuries in the accident, which occurred at Agemowo axis of the road around 7:31 a.m.
He said a commercial bus (Mazda) with registration number MUS 411 XU, carrying 19 passengers and coming from Lagos, was involved in a collision with a granite truck with registration number AKM 926YQ, coming from Badagry.
“The accident occurred around 7.31 a.m. when it was raining heavily along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
A crushed Mazda commercial bus after collision with a truck on Lagos-Badagry Expressway on Sunday morning
“My men got to the scene of the accident at about 7.41 a.m. and took the injured to General Hospital Badagry, while the dead were deposited at the mortuary of the hospital.
“Out of the 14 casualties, eight of them are male passengers, five are female, and one is a four-month-old female child.
“The accident was caused by speeding by the two vehicles while it was raining heavily,” he said.
The commander said that the driver of the truck was not affected.
The truck that was involved in a fatal accident along the Lagos-Badagry expressway on Sunday
Manga urged motorists not to exceed speed limits and to always have routine vehicle checks for prompt detection and replacement of faults.
The correspondent who visited the accident scene reports that some people there could not hold back tears.
Mrs Theresa Avoseh, one of those at the scene, said the people involved in the accident were returning home after celebrating with their relations at Makoko, in Lagos.
“The bus, loaded around 5.30 a.m., was going to Seme with people who went to celebrate with their relatives,” she said, adding that the accident occurred while it was raining heavily.
Dr. Olatunde Bakare, the Medical Director, General Hospital, Badagry, said 10 of the victims were brought in dead.
He said that while his staff were attending to the injured ones, four more succumbed to death, which raised the number to 14.
Bakare said that they were doing their best to save the lives of the nine surviving passengers.
He urged motorists to drive safely on the highways, especially during this rainy season.
Supreme reports that on Feb. 13, five members of a family were feared dead in an auto crash at the same axis along the expressway.
