For over three hours yesterday, the ever-busy Awolowo Way in Ikeja, the Lagos State capital was tied up in a snarling traffic caused, this time, not by flood, but by a road accident.
Fortunately, nobody died in the accident that occurred at about 1.00p.m. and allegedly caused by an operational vehicle of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), which ran out of control and literally, ‘climbed almost unto the roof of a Peugeot car and a Lagos commercial bus popularly called ‘Danfo’.
Although no one died, an elderly man in the Peugeot car sustained what could turn out to be serious injuries, while over 10 passengers in the bus escaped unscathed. “The bus passengers were lucky, their escape nothing but a miracle”, an eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity, told The Guardian.
According to him “The accident happened after the driver of the PHCN van with Registration Number, FG343N41, lost control while attempting to make a U-Turn on the busy road.” Another witness said: “While the driver of the PHCN van was making a U-turn, he suddenly spotted a pothole and attempted to dodge it but because he was speeding, he wasn’t able to do so in time.
“His front tyres went in and the car was just lifted as if about to take off like a plane, only to be halted mid-air by the car and bus. “It was God that averted multiple deaths here this afternoon. “The inconvenience of the traffic jam is nothing compared to the grief and greater loss if people had died.“It would have been a different and more terrible story today.”
“The driver, in a bid to dodge the pothole, rammed into the median, thereby causing the van to jump to the other side. “The driver then hit the accelerator but he might have pressed it too hard as the van struck the median, climbed over it and landed on the two vehicles driving on the other side of the road towards Ikeja.”
Officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC), Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the police were on hand to ease the situation. The Lagos State Ambulance Service came shortly after to take the occupants of the Peugeot vehicle who were bleeding to the General Hospital. Lagos State Police spokesperson who confirmed the incident said the police were there in time to ensure that the passengers were saved and to ensure flow of traffic.
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