No fewer than five individuals, including an eight-month-old baby, survived a multiple-vehicle crash at Otedola Bridge along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway in Lagos State.
The accident involved four vehicles: a Hydra truck (APP 261 FA), an LT commercial bus (EPE 574 YC), a Ford vehicle (GG 283 XQ), and an unregistered Mark flat-body truck.
According to reports, the crash occurred when the LT commercial bus, traveling at dangerously high speed, struck a group of pedestrians attempting to cross the expressway.
In a statement, Adebayo Taofiq, Director of the Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of LASTMA, confirmed the incident, noting that the baby was rescued unharmed by officials, while the four other victims were immediately stabilized and conveyed to the Lagos State Accident & Emergency Centre at Tollgate for urgent medical attention.
According to the statement, “Preliminary findings by security personnel indicate that the four severely injured pedestrians one of whom bore an eight-month-old baby securely strapped to her back were attempting to traverse the expressway when the LT commercial bus, approaching at a perilously excessive speed, catastrophically rammed into them. The force of the impact precipitated a secondary chain collision involving the remaining vehicles, including the unregistered Mark truck.
“In an expeditious and well-coordinated rescue operation, LASTMA officers promptly extricated the infant, who, by extraordinary providence, emerged entirely unscathed despite the magnitude of the collision. The remaining four victims, who sustained grievous bodily injuries, were immediately stabilized and conveyed to the Lagos State Accident & Emergency Centre by Tollgate for urgent medical intervention.
“Security personnel from the Alausa Police Station furnished unwavering operational support throughout the rescue effort, safeguarding responders and maintaining situational order at the scene.
“Additionally, all wrecked vehicles were meticulously cleared from the roadway by LASTMA personnel, thereby reinstating unhindered vehicular movement inward Tollgate and forestalling prolonged congestion along the heavily trafficked corridor.
Reacting to the scene, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, General Manager of LASTMA, expressed his profound sympathy to the injured victims and extended his sincerest wishes for their swift recovery.
He also issued a stern reminder to pedestrians, urging them to make careful use of the pedestrian bridges provided by the government.
Bakare-Oki emphasized that the dangerous practice of darting across high-speed highways continues to put lives at unnecessary risk.
