In the wee hours of Thursday, a truck crashed into a pedestrian bridge at Alapere Ketu Estate Gate on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, becoming trapped and causing damage to the entire structure.
This was confirmed on Friday by Sola Giwa, the Special Advisor on Transportation to the Lagos State Governor.
According to him, about 12 trucks were moving in a convoy and 10 of them had successfully passed under the bridge but the 11th one, due to speeding and lack of patience, got stuck under the bridge and caused serious damage, forcing the bridge to collapse.
He said, “The accident occurred at about 11 pm on Thursday. The trucks were about 12 moving inward the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway when it happened.
“Ten of the trucks had successfully manoeuvred their way but the 11th one, due to the driver’s impatience to safely pass under the bridge and the height of the container it was carrying, rammed into the bridge and damaged the entire bridge.”
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“Immediately we got wind of the incident, we notified the necessary authorities and the debris has been cleared off the road. In some minutes now, there will be an easy flow of traffic. No casualty was recorded in the accident,” he noted.
In the meantime, Bakare Oki, the acting general manager of the Lagos State Transportation Management Authority and a first responder at the accident scene, urged drivers to always drive slowly in order to prevent incidents like this.
“This is yuletide season and we understand that people are often in a haste but patience is key whenever you’re on the road, not just because of your safety alone but because of the safety of other road users.
“I am appealing to drivers and road users especially on Lagos roads to exercise patience and caution so that casualties on the road will be minimal if not eradicated”, he said.
