Truck falls off Lagos bridge on Sunday

By Labake IDOWU

An empty articulated 40ft flatbed truck on Sunday fell off from the bridge by Ijora Olopa inward Apapa area of Lagos state.

Lagos State Traffic Management Authority spokesperson, Adebayo Taofiq, in a statement disclosed that the incident occurred as a result of overspeeding while the truck was ascending the bridge.

According to him, LASTMA personnel rescued the driver in a pool of blood while his assistant sustained a serious waist fracture on his spinal cord.

He said, “A preliminary investigation revealed that the driver of the articulated 40ft empty flatbed truck lost total control due to brake failure while struggling a ‘Right of Way’ (R.O.W) with another fully loaded truck trying to climb the High Bridge inward Apapa.

“Immediately the unfortunate incident happened other articulated truck drivers around ‘Sifax’ Company supported LASTMA personnel and rescued both the driver and motor boy who were trapped under the truck.

“LASTMA Goriola Jimoh ‘Zebra’ (Zone 22) Apapa who led the rescue operations confirmed that the rescued injured driver and his motor boy were rushed to the General Hospital at Apapa for immediate medical treatment.”

Adebayo noted further, that the crashed articulated truck was evacuated by officials of the LASEMA Response Unit while LASTMA personnel handed over the case to policemen from Ijora-Badia Police Station for further investigation.

“The General Manager of LASTMA, Mr. Bakare Oki, however, appealed to owners of articulated trucks to always carry out periodic safety training and enlightenment campaigns for their drivers on the need to obey road signs while driving on highways within and outside the state”.