Headlines 1st tragedy on rehabilitated 3rd Mainland Bridge on Eid-el-Fitri, 20-seater commercial bus passengers flung into Lagoon By maritimemag April 10, 2024 ShareTweet 0 By Abiodun OBA The newly rehabilitated 3rd Mainland Bridge on Wednesday recorded its first tragedy when a fully loaded 20-seater commercial bus hit the railings, sending two passengers into the Lagoon. This occurred on a day Nigeria’s Muslim faithful joined the rest of the world in celebrating the end of the holy month of Ramadan, Eid-el-Fitri. According to an eyewitness, who identified himself as Akinola Adeniyi, the tragedy occurred at about 11.30 am. He said the commercial bus en route to the Island from Iyana-Oworo suddenly hit the railings on the bridge. Adeniyi attributed the cause of the accident to excessive speeding on the part of the driver of the ill-fated vehicle. A rescue team, including men of the Lagos State Emergency Management LASEMA, and the Police, among others raced to the scene. The incident led to traffic gridlock on the 3rd Mainland Bridge, inward the Island. Director of Public Affairs of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, Taofik Adebayo, confirmed the incident. He said LASTMA personnel, in collaboration with other rescue teams, particularly the Marine Police, were carrying out the rescue mission. According to Adebayo, 18 seriously injured passengers were immediately taken to hospital for treatment. According to reports, he said, preliminary investigations revealed that a 20 fully loaded LT commercial bus, with registration FKJ 872 YA while on a high speed, lost control as a result of a brake failure. The bus was about to fall inside the Lagoon before it was stopped by the railings of the 3rd Mainland Bridge. Adebayo added that the truck driver ran away after the accident. He noted that policemen from Adeniji Adele Police Station provided security backup during the rescue of the 18 passengers by LASTMA officials. One LASTMA Alpha, Zone 1 Lagos Island, Ojo-Oniyun Olamide, led the recovery operations. He confirmed that his team immediately evacuated the bus off the road for free vehicular movement inward Adeniji Adele area of Lagos Island. “Meanwhile, the Marine rescue team is already inside the Lagoon on a search-and-rescue mission to see if any of those passengers that fell inside could be rescued. However, the General Manager of LASTMA, Mr. Olalekan Bakare-Oki warned the motoring public to stop over speeding. He also urged them to ensure their vehicles are properly checked, including the braking system, before embarking on any journey within or outside the state. However, the Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, in a statement, says the hope of rescuing the two passengers has become dim, adding that personnel of the Marine Police were in search of the two adults, a male and female, who fell off the LT 18-seater bus. He said that the driver of the vehicle, who was on speed, swerved off the road and hit the bridge railings, with the impact pushing the two passengers off the bus into the Lagos lagoon. Farinloye said that personnel dispatched from the agency, joined by two teams from the Nigerian Police Marine Corps, had been assisting in the rescue operations. “However, by now, we are not looking at search and rescue again, but recovery. “This is because the male passenger was said to have floated about three times before he was finally drowned, while the woman did not even surface at all. “Therefore, the possibility of anyone of them surviving is slim,” he said. According to him, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) had, however, mobilised more local divers to join the team for the recovery operations. Mr Jonathan Owoade, Zonal Coordinator, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), also corroborated the explanation by the NEMA official. Owoade said that other victims in the bus had been rescued and taken to a nearby general hospital for treatment. “We are on our way to the hospital to see their state of being and also commiserate with them”. Recall that the Federal Government reopened the third mainland bridge on April 4, setting the speed limit at 80 km per hour, following extensive repairs over a period of five months. It came days after the Lagos Sector of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) reiterated the call for safe driving on the newly reopened Third Mainland Bridge after an accident occurred on it on Thursday. A collision involving three vehicles occurred on the bridge on Thursday, the day it was fully reopened to traffic after months of partial closure. The FRSC described the Thursday incident, which involved three vehicles inward Iyana Oworo axis of the bridge, as an avoidable crash and blamed it on negligence. The Sector Commander, Mr Babatunde Farinloye, had told the NAN that though there was no injury in the accident, there was minor damage to the vehicle. The sector commander advised motorists to drive cautiously, reiterating the need to comply with the 80km per hour speed limit on the bridge. The impact of an accident earlier on Wednesday, according to Farinloye, left two adults thrown off an 18-seater bus into the Lagos lagoon. Farinloye had said this in a statement, adding that personnel of the Marine Police were in search of the two adults, a male and female, who fell off the LT 18-seater bus. He said that the crash occurred by Adeniyi Adele axis inward Lagos Island on the Third Mainland Bridge. He said that the driver of the vehicle, who was on speed, swerved off the road and hit the bridge railings, with the impact pushing the two passengers off the bus into the Lagos lagoon. Speaking with NAN correspondent who was at the scene, Farinloye said that personnel dispatched from the agency, joined by two teams from the Nigerian Police Marine Corps, had been assisting in the rescue operations. “However, by now, we are not looking at search and rescue again, but recovery. “This is because the male passenger was said to have floated about three times before he was finally drowned, while the woman did not even surface at all. “Therefore, the possibility of anyone of them surviving is slim,” he said. Related News Olubadan: Ladoja faults comments on Olakulehin’s health Paris 2024: World Athletics to become first body to introduce Olympic prize money Fury says ‘size matters’ as Usyk bout looms According to him, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) had, however, mobilised more local divers to join the team for the recovery operations. Mr Jonathan Owoade, Zonal Coordinator, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), also corroborated the explanation by the NEMA official. Owoade said that other victims in the bus had been rescued and taken to a nearby general hospital for treatment. “We are on our way to the hospital to see their state of being and also commiserate with them,” he told NAN. © 2024, maritimemag. All rights reserved.
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