Lagos Train-BRT Accident: Death Toll Rises To Six

At least six persons have been confirmed dead, 42 sustained moderate injuries, 29 serious injuries, while 8 sustained mild injuries, out of 85 passengers onboard the BRT, which collided with a moving train around the PWD, close to Shogunle area of Lagos State on Thursday.

On the cause of the accident which happened around 7:10 a.m, our correspondent gathered that the BRT driver did not see the train coming, because he had earpiece stuck in his ears.

Speaking with THE WHISTLER, the Flagman of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) at the PWD, who gave his name as Yusuf, said that he gave the BRT driver red flag, but the driver ignored it.

Yusuf said: “When the train was coming around 7:10 a.m, I was trying to stop the BRT motor, but he (driver) didn’t stop. The driver just wanted to cross; by that time, the train was already close. The train now collided with the bus.”

Another eye-witnesss, David Makanjuola who spoke to our correspondent at the scene of the accident said the BRT driver was unaware of the moving train because he had earpiece.

“The driver of the BRT probably didn’t see the train coming, because he had earpiece ON. The train was coming with full speed, so it hit the bus, and dragged it from PWD here to Shogunle area,” he said.

According to Makanjuola, while the driver was not among those who lost their lives, he sustained serious injuries.

“When the accident happened some area boys wanted to steal some of the victims’ personal belongings. It was the police that prevented them,” he added.

Also speaking with THE WHISTLER, a security man around the area, Jude Onyekwuru said that one of the passengers, a woman, died on the spot.

On his part, the State Commissioner of Transport, Dr Frederic Oladeinde,, who arrived the accident scene around 12:30 p.m, said that the driver did not respond to all the signals given to him, possibly because he had earpiece.

“I think when the train was coming all signals were given just to indicate that train was coming. So a lot of cars that were supposed to cross … Pass this junction, but I heard that the staff bus that carry people to Alausa, the driver had an earpiece. So maybe he didn’t hear, but he decided that he was going to hit the train. But unfortunately, when you don’t know the heaviness of the vehicle; I think maybe he underestimated probably the speed. What we know is that he got hit and he was dragged for about 250 meters,” Oladeinde said.

He informed that investigation is ongoing to find out what actually happened, adding that the driver of the bus is currently being interrogated at a police station.

As part of measures to prevent such accident from happening in the future, the Commissioner said that the state is building overpasses to eliminate interaction between rail and vehicles.

“What we’re trying to do is to eliminate the interaction between rail and vehicles, and that’s why we’re building overpasses. When you go to Ikeja, when you go to Yaba, when you go to Oyingbo, and Mushin, we’ve have built four. I think Agege also, we constructed in Agege and we’ve five others which the Federal Government would build. I think they’ve finished one,” he said.

With these overpasses, Oladeinde said there would not be any interaction between rail and vehicles.

On the number of casualties, he told THE WHISTLER that as of this morning, two of the victims have been confirmed dead.

“This morning, it’s two. I’m hearing that it’s three, but I don’t have full numbers,” the Commissioner said.

Flags To Fly At Half Mast

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has directed that all flags be flown at half mast, while civil servants should close by 12 noon on Friday.

Sanwo-Olu who visited the victims at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) said that the accident was avoidable.

The Governor noted that it was still a critical period for some of the patients and called for blood donations across different state government medical facilities.

“I was at LASUTH to understand the condition of the victims of the bus/train accident.

“The team at LASUTH expertly setup an outdoor triage centre which has contributed in saving lives, speeding up injury level profiling and supporting immediate critical action.

“This was a totally avoidable incident that simply required patience and the need to follow proper transportation protocol.

“There were 85 pax on board the bus with 6 deaths, 42 moderate injuries, 29 serious and 8 mild injuries according to the LASUTH classification scale.

“Lagos is in a state of mourning and for the next 3 days, I am suspending all campaign activities. All flags will be flown at half mast and tomorrow all civil servants will work till 12 noon before returning home to be with their loved ones during this trying time,” Sanwo-Olu said in a post via his social media handles.

“This is a call for our humanity to rise above all. I also thank LASEMA, the security agencies, staff and students of LASUTH for rising up to the occasion as soon as this unfortunate incident happened,” he added.