Five feared dead, 84 injured as train rams into BRT bus

Juliana Francis

At least five people are feared dead, and 84 others are injured after a train rammed into a BRT bus loaded with the staff of the Lagos State Government at the PWD area of Ikeja, Lagos State.

Although authorities confirmed two dead, an eyewitness said five dead bodies were counted.

The eyewitness, Musa Hayatou, said that he counted five dead bodies and many injured. He said the injured were rushed to the Ikeja General Hospital, many of them with broken bones.

According to reports, two NRC flag officers tried to stop the BRT bus driver from crossing as they noticed that the train was coming and was close, but the driver allegedly ignored their warnings, believing that he could quickly drive past the rail before the train, but he miscalculated.

A resident of Sogunle, Musa Hayatou, who witnessed the accident, said: “I counted five dead bodies, bodies were brought out from the bus and someone died as they were brought out. Some of the injured have been rushed to the General Hospital and many had broken bones. I don’t know if more people have died, but for now, I counted five dead bodies. There’s a passenger, who is buried under a big stone, nobody is sure whether she’s alive or not. In fact, those affected by the accident were passengers on the bus. At the Shogunle Bus stop, we always have accidents, but never a train accident of this nature. BRT buses usually have accidents with other vehicles. I want to believe the fault is from the BRT bus driver, the train must have been honking for minutes and there was train vibration, which means everyone knows when a train is coming.”

Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, the South West Coordinator, of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), who confirmed the accident, explained that “Two bodies all of the staff of the Lagos State Government and several others who were injured have been evacuated. 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.”