Six people were killed and several injured when a train crashed into a passenger bus in Lagos, Nigeria on Thursday, said the emergency response agency, reported The Washington Post.
The bus was taking government staff to work when it collided with the intra-city train in the Ikeja area of Lagos, said Ibrahim Farinloye, head of Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency in the state.
“The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA has deployed its Resources to recover the BRT that rammed into a train at PWD,” read LASEMA Facebook Post.
“So far, 84 people were rescued alive and taken to the hospital … (and) the total deaths so far is six including those who died at the hospital,” said Farinloye. All of the injured people were from the bus, no one on the train was hurt, he said,” reported The Washington Post.
The casualties have been transferred to the General Hospital for further medical attention after being given first aid by the Agency’s Paramedics.
The bus driver involved in Thursday’s crash disobeyed the traffic signal, said Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, secretary with the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency.
According to Oke-Osanyintolu, the immediate cause of the incident was the bus driver’s reckless driving in which he tried to beat the train traffic signal before the train hit him, reported The Washington Post.
Train and truck accidents are common in many Nigerian cities where traffic regulations are usually not adhered to, say local residents.
They are a serious problem in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city and commercial hub, despite tough penalties introduced by authorities in recent years to try to curb the crashes. (ANI)
