Train Crashes Into Lagos Staff Bus, Kills Three

• NRC Boss blames bus driver

At least three staff members of the Lagos State Government have died and about 84 others injured when a train collided with a staff bus on the rail track at Ikeja Along in Sogunle area of the state.

Reports said Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), which was conveying staff of the State government to work, was about crossing the rail line when it got trapped by the moving train.

The spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye, who confirmed the incident, said; “Three bodies of staff members (two females and a male) of the State Government, have been recovered.

“Eighty-four people were rescued alive and taken to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital Ikeja.”

According to Farinloye; “The State Government staff bus was trying to cross the PWD/Sogunle rail crossing while the train coming into Lagos from Abeokuta (Ogun State) trapped the bus on its rail.”

NRC Boss Blames BRT Driver For Accident

Giving an account of the brief he received concerning the accident, the Managing Director of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Mr Fidet Okhiria, said two bodies have so far been recovered from the scene, while several others are injured.

Okhiria told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos: “According to the information I gathered at the scene of the incident, they said many cars stopped when they got to the level crossing while the Lagos Staff Bus driver continued moving, which I don’t know why.

“Maybe the driver thought he could pass before the train got nearer to him. He could not pass, and then the train crushed the bus; that is what we gathered. The train was coming from Ijoko to Iddo,”

Urging Lagos drivers to be more careful when passing through the level crossing, to avoid train accidents, the managing director, who was concerned about the lives of the Lagos State staff, appealed to motorists to consider the level crossing at all times.

He said when motorists get to the level crossing, they should not ignore the point where they should stop.

The Director of Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Taofiq, Adebayo said in a statement that the Authority’s enforcement officers were the first emergency responders at the scene of the accident involving the staff bus with registration no 04A- 48LA.

He said LASTMA had called other emergency responders to join in the rescue, adding that the accident recorded some casualties as the staff bus was fully loaded with Government staff going to the office in the morning.