By Ado Oyeyemi
Three women have lost their lives, while 10 other persons sustained injuries after a vehicle plunged from the Long Bridge on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway into a ditch.
The crash occurred at about 5:24pm on Friday near the Mikano area of the bridge, inward Lagos, according to the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency.
The agency’s spokesperson, Babatunde Akinbiyi, disclosed the incident in a statement, saying three vehicles were involved in the crash.
They were a white Toyota bus with registration number KJA 247 YM, a white Toyota Corolla marked BDG 867 HG and a white Mazda bus with registration number AGL 891 XX.
Akinbiyi said 16 people, comprising 12 males and four females, were involved in the accident.
He stated that 10 persons, nine males and one female, sustained various degrees of injuries, while three female adults died.
According to the TRACE spokesperson, preliminary accounts from eyewitnesses suggested that excessive speed and loss of control caused the vehicle to somersault before landing in the ditch.
Following the incident, personnel from TRACE, the Federal Road Safety Corps, the police and the Ogun State Ambulance and Emergency Service were deployed to the scene for rescue and evacuation operations.
Akinbiyi said six injured victims were evacuated to the Lagos State Accident and Emergency Service by the Ogun State Ambulance and Emergency Service, while another injured person and a presumed dead victim were taken away by an FRSC ambulance.
He added that two of the deceased were deposited at the morgue of the General Hospital, Ifo, while another presumed dead victim was taken to the Idera Hospital morgue in Sagamu.
The remaining injured victims were reportedly taken to A.Z. Hospital by the FRSC for treatment.
Akinbiyi further disclosed that the vehicle which plunged into the ditch had been recovered and taken to the Warewa Police Station alongside the other vehicles involved in the crash.
He said the vehicles would remain at the station as investigations continued to determine the circumstances surrounding the accident.
The crash caused a temporary disruption to traffic flow during the rescue and evacuation operation, but the situation was later brought under control after the vehicles and victims were evacuated.
The incident came days after another fatal crash on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
On August 25, seven people were reportedly killed and two others injured in a multiple crash involving three vehicles around the Kara area of the expressway.
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The FRSC Ogun State Sector Command said the earlier accident, which occurred at about 12:03am, involved a white HOWO CNG/CIMC ENRIC truck, a white MACK trailer and a Mitsubishi Canter with registration number JJJ920YA.
