About 20 persons narrowly escaped death on Wednesday after a petrol-laden tanker rammed into five vehicles on the Otedola Bridge, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Lagos State.
According to the Punch, the petrol tanker rammed into the five vehicles, which were held in a traffic caused by a long queue for fuel.
The vehicles involved in the crash were a 14-seater Volkswagen bus and four other cars.
A mild drama reportedly played out as the driver of the tanker ‘disappeared’ from the scene immediately the incident happened.
The victims who were moved to a hospital included a pregnant woman, suspected to be in her third trimester.
One of the victims, Samson Rufus, who stated that he was heading for Abeokuta, said he was in the traffic when he heard the hawkers shouting, ‘fire, fire, run’.
Rufus said, “I was confused and could not run. All I heard was a big bang on my vehicle. A pregnant woman, who was sitting at the back, was critically injured.”
Another victim, Olatubosun Fayemi, said he jumped out of his crushed vehicle and ran away.
An eyewitness, who identified himself as Moses Emmanuel, said he narrowly escaped, adding that but for hawkers of sachet water and other products on the expressway, who raised the alarm, the impact of the crash would have been more devastating.
An official of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, at the scene reportedly blamed the crash on brake failure.
Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, SP Dolapo Badmos, said “The accident was caused by a fuel tanker with number plate, KMC 311 ZV.
“Three people got critically injured and some others sustained minor injuries.
“They were taken to the Lagos emergency unit at the tollgate area.”
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