A
pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), his wife, their two
children and a church worker, were crushed to death by two containers yesterday in Lagos while on
their way home from the monthly Holy
Ghost vigil of the church. Three
others were injured. Pastor
Charles Ito and his wife Rosaline were killed. The names of the children and
the church worker could not be immediately confirmed.
The
Nation gathered that two tyres of the truck carrying the containers
unexpectedly lost pressure which made the vehicle tilt heavily on one side, just
by the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) terminal on the Lagos /Ikorodu road, Ojota.
The truck soon lost its balance, flinging the
two containers down and on the mini bus in which the pastor and other victims
were travelling.
Time was about 3 am. The five died on the spot. Three
others were trapped in the crushed bus. Officials
of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Police, Nigerian
Security and Civil Defence Corps, Fire Service, and Lagos State Ambulance
Service (LASAMBUS) raced to the scene and succeeded in rescuing the three.
Among
those rescued were Olasunkanmi Adeogun of 133, Olatunji Street, Ojota, and
another young man identified as Ifeanyi.
All
the victims are from RCCG Province 8, sources said yesterday.
The
scene was littered yesterday with dismembered human parts, which were later
packed by rescue workers.
Eyewitnesses
said the trailer driver fled the scene as soon as the accident occurred. His
conductor was however apprehended and handed over to the police.
Hoodlums
who got to the scene early were said to have attempted to rob the rescue
workers.
The
saving grace was the police and NSCDC operatives drafted to the spot.
The
accident triggered a traffic gridlock on the route and officials had to break
the median demarcating the BRT lane to make way for the heavy duty equipment
used in clearing the scene.
Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni who was
at the scene confirmed that five persons were killed and three others rescued
alive.
He
said it was time people started obeying traffic laws, adding that apart from
the truck's bad tyres, it lacked capacity to carry the two containers.
He
said: "We will spare nothing to arrest the driver of this truck. Even the
truck owner, under the Lagos State Traffic Rules, has some questions to answer.
We would focus attention more on people conforming with the law.
He
urged those who suspect that their relatives could be among the victims to go
to Alausa Police Station for identification.
Also
speaking, the General Manager LASEMA, Adesina Tiamiyu said: "Around 3:45am
today (Saturday), our men got here after we received information that people
were trapped in a bus that was smashed by container. We had to break the median
for equipment to access the spot and we noticed that three of the persons
trapped were alive.
"Fortunately,
we were able to bring them out alive, while the other five who were already
dead, have been evacuated as well.”
The
agency, later issued a statement saying: “The agency’s emergency response team
(ERT) received a distressed call regarding an accident at Ojota bus stop on the
July 8, 2017, about 4:02am. This prompted the immediate activation of the
agency’s ERT to the scene of the incident.
“Investigation carried out by the ERT at the
scene revealed that an articulated truck with registration number AKD 663 KF
conveyed 40ft container laden with plywood fell on Volkswagen commercial bus
(Danfo) with registration number FST 944 XR which the passengers were trapped.
“The
prompt intention by the LASEMA response unit led to the rescue of three victims
who were taken to the Trauma Centre Toll Gate, while five dead bodies trapped
in the bus were extricated and taken to Ikorodu General Hospital Mortuary.”
No comments:
Post a Comment