Lagos Lagoon Accident: Hope Dims For Passengers – NEMA

The Zonal Coordinator South West, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye, says hope has dimmed in the efforts to rescue the two passengers who fell off a bus into the Lagos lagoon following an accident on Wednesday.

This is as the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) confirmed that the remaining occupants of the bus were seriously injured and are currently hospitalised for treatment.

According to Farinloye, who spoke at the accident scene in Lagos, the impact left two adults thrown off an 18-seater bus into the Lagos lagoon, adding that personnel of the Marine Police were still searching for the two adults, a male, and female, who fell off the LT 18-seater bus.

He said the crash, which occurred around Adeniyi Adele axis inward Lagos Island on the Third Mainland Bridge, saw the driver of the vehicle, who was at speed, swerve off the road and hit the bridge railings, with the impact pushing the two passengers off the bus into the lagoon.

Farinloye said NEMA’s personnel, joined by two teams from the Nigerian Police Marine Corps, have been assisting in the rescue operations, even as he added; “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 any one of them surviving is slim.”

The NEMA Zonal Coordinator further disclosed that the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) had mobilised more local divers to join the team for the recovery operations.

Also commenting on the incident, Zonal Coordinator of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Jonathan Owoade, disclosed that other victims in the bus had been rescued and taken to a nearby general hospital for treatment, adding; “We are on our way to the hospital to see their state of being and also commiserate with them”.

He said given the impact recorded at the scene, the accident may have been due to overspeeding by the driver as the bus involved in the accident damaged part of the railings, with its shattered windscreen pieces littering the scene.

Reports indicated that emergency response agencies seen on ground at the accident included the Marine Police, NEMA, LASEMA, and FRSC, assisted by the local divers.

Meanwhile, a statement by LASTMA’s Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, Mr Adebayo Taofiq, said the 18 other passengers rescued in the bus accident and taken to the hospital were seriously injured.

He said that LASTMA officer Olamide Ojo-Oniyun (One Alpha, Zone 1 Lagos Island), who led the recovery operations, confirmed that his team had evacuated the LT Commercial bus off the road for unhindered vehicular movement inward in the Adeniji Adele area of Lagos Island.

The General Manager of LASTMA, Mr. Olalekan Bakare-Oki, also cautioned motorists to obey speed limits and ensure their vehicles are properly checked before embarking on any journey within or outside the state.

In reopening the Third Mainland Bridge on Thursday, April 4, 2024, the Federal Government had set the speed limit at 80 km per hour, following extensive repairs over five months, and Wednesday’s accident unfortunately occurred on a day Muslims were celebrating Eid-el-Fitr.

It is coming just days after the Lagos Sector of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) emphasised the need for safe driving on the newly reopened Third Mainland Bridge after an accident involving three vehicles occurred on Thursday, the day it was officially reopened to traffic after months of partial closure.

The FRSC described the Thursday incident, inward Iyana Oworo axis of the bridge, as an avoidable crash and blamed it on negligence, with the Sector Commander, Mr Babatunde Farinloye, explaining that though there was no injury in the accident, there was minor damage to the vehicle.

Farinloye advised motorists to drive cautiously, reiterating the need to comply with the 80km per hour speed limit on the bridge. – with NAN report