An eight-month-old baby and an adult female lost their lives on Sunday in a fatal road accident involving two commercial buses along Ikorodu Road in Lagos.
The collision occurred opposite Olabode House, between the Anthony and Obanikoro axis, after a red Tata commercial bus travelling from Palmgroove inward Anthony reportedly lost control at high speed.
According to the spokesperson of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Adebayo Taofiq, the bus veered off its lane, broke through the median barrier and crashed into the opposing carriageway, where it collided with a Volkswagen commercial bus heading from Anthony toward Palmgroove.
The impact of the crash was severe, resulting in the instant death of the adult female passenger aboard the Volkswagen bus, while the eight-month-old female infant later succumbed to injuries sustained in the accident.
“Preliminary findings indicate that a red long Tata commercial bus propelled at an excessive and perilous velocity from Palmgroove inward Anthony, suddenly lost mechanical and directional control.
“In a catastrophic sequence of events, the bus veered off its lane, violently breached the median barrier and careened into the opposing carriageway, where it forcefully collided with a moving Volkswagen commercial bus conveying passengers from Anthony toward Palmgroove,” Adebayo said in a statement.
Operatives of LASTMA, with the support of members of the public, immediately carried out rescue operations at the scene.
A total of 10 passengers, including the drivers of both vehicles, were rescued from the wreckage with varying degrees of injuries.
Six of the injured were extracted from the Volkswagen bus, while four others were rescued from the Tata bus.
The injured victims were taken to nearby hospitals by the Lagos State Ambulance Service for urgent medical attention.
Officials of the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit recovered and evacuated the remains of the deceased.
LASTMA officials also cordoned off the accident scene to prevent further crashes and ensured the prompt removal of the damaged vehicles, restoring traffic flow along the busy Ikorodu Road corridor. Security operatives from the Ilupeju Police Division provided security during the rescue and recovery operation.
Reacting to the incident, the General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, expressed condolences to the families of the victims, particularly the mother of the deceased infant, who was injured and is currently receiving medical treatment.
He warned motorists, especially commercial drivers, against excessive speeding and urged them to ensure their vehicles are roadworthy before plying Lagos roads, stressing that negligence and reckless driving often lead to fatal consequences.
NewsNGR reports that Sunday’s incident occurred less than five days after 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.
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.
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