Train-bus crash: Death toll now 8; Sanwo-Olu, Jandor, Rhodes-Vivour visit victims
No fewer than 8 persons have been confirmed dead by emergency responders, and over 80 persons injured and rushed to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Ikeja at the PWD bus stop in the Ikeja area of Lagos where a train rammed into a BRT bus on Thursday morning.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who visited the hospital, said two persons died at the scene of the accident.
Six other persons were said to have died at the hospital.
He said 85 passengers were involved in all, 42 with moderate injuries, 29 with serious injuries while eight have mild injuries.
Passersby watch in horror even as dead and injured victims were extricated from the bus which was hit right on the rail tracks. The bus driver was said to have ignored signals from railway workers not to cross the rail line.
The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) spokesman, Adebayo Taofiq said though the bus involved in the crash is the same as the regular BRT buses in the state, the bus was a staff bus of the Lagos State Government.
Spokesman for the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Nosa Okunbor said over 82 others injured had been evacuated to LASUTH.
“The State Government staff bus was trying to cross the PWD/Sogunle rail crossing while the train coming into Lagos from Abeokuta trapped the bus on its rail,” he added.
First responders later arrived the scene for rescue operations.
Besides Sanwo-Olu, Labour Party (LP)’s Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour known as GRV and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s Olajide Adediran aka Jandor also visited the injured victims at the hospital.