The impact of an accident on the newly resurfaced 3rd Mainland Bridge yesterday in Lagos threw two adults off an 18-seater bus into the Lagos lagoon.
The Lagos Territorial Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, who disclosed this in a statement in Lagos, said personnel of the Marine Police were in search of the two adults, a male, and female, who fell off the LT 18-seater bus.
According to Farinloye, the crash, involving the bus with registration number FKJ 872 YA, occurred by Adeniyi Adele’s axis inward Lagos Island on the third mainland bridge, adding that the driver of the vehicle, who was on speed, swerved off the road and hit the bridge railings.
He said the impact forcefully pushed the two passengers off the bus into the Lagos lagoon. “The victims, an adult male and female, are being searched by the Marine Police. The injured have been evacuated to a nearby hospital, ” Farinloye said.
Meanwhile, Farinloye said the hope of rescuing the two passengers has become dim. He spoke with newsmen at the scene of the accident in Lagos.
This is just as the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) said the remaining occupants of the bus were seriously injured.
Farinloye said in a statement that personnel of the Marine Police were in search of the two adults, a male, and a female, who fell off the LT 18-seater bus.
According to Farinloye, personnel dispatched from the Agency joined by two teams from the Nigerian Police Marine Corps assisted in the rescue operations.
“However, by now, we are not looking at the search and rescue again, but recovery. This is because the male passenger was said to have floated about three times before he was finally drowned, while the woman did not even surface at all. Therefore, the possibility of any one of them surviving is slim,” he said.
According to him, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) mobilised more local divers to join the team for the recovery operations.
Also, the Zonal Coordinator, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Jonathan Owoade, corroborated the explanation by the NEMA official.
According to Owoade, other victims in the bus had been rescued to a nearby General Hospital for treatment. “We are on our way to the hospital to see their state of being and also commiserate with them,” he said, adding that the accident seemed to have occurred as a result of speeding by the driver, given the impact.
Emergency response agencies seen on the ground at the scene of the accident included the Marine Police, the LASEMA, the FRSC, the NEMA, and local divers.
The bus involved in the accident damaged part of the railings, and pieces of its shattered windshield littered the scene.
Meanwhile, LASTMA, in a statement by the Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, Mr Adebayo Taofiq, said the 18 other passengers rescued in the bus accident and taken to hospital were seriously injured.
He said LASTMA officer Olamide Ojo-Oniyun (One Alpha, Zone 1 Lagos Island), who led the recovery operations confirmed that his team had evacuated the LT Commercial bus off the road, for unhindered vehicular movement inward Adeniji Adele area of Lagos Island.
The General Manager of LASTMA Mr. Olalekan Bakare-Oki, also cautioned motorists to obey speed limits and ensure their vehicles are properly checked before embarking on any journey within or outside the state.
