After a container fell on a bus on Sunday, the victims passed away. Several other people were hurt in the incident, and they are receiving medical attention in a hospital.

Governor Sanwo-Olu promised a thorough inquiry while offering his condolences to the families of the victims hours after the accident.

“Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on behalf of the people and government, sympathizes with the families of those who died today in the Ojuelegba truck accident,” the state’s Transportation Commissioner Frederic Oladeinde said in a statement.

“The accident will be thoroughly investigated so as to prevent a recurrence of such tragic incidents.  We are working with the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing to install Vehicle/Truck barriers on the inward and outward sections of the Bridge.

“We share the grief of those who lost their loved ones in the accident and pray that the Almighty will strengthen them at this difficult time.

“The Government will continue to implement its Transport Master Plan, which has safety strategies that will ensure that our roads are safe.”

Sunday’s mishap involved an articulated vehicle carrying a 20ft container.

Investigations revealed that the commercial bus was picking up passengers at the bus stop along the Ojuelegba Bridge when the vehicle lost control and fell over the side of the bridge.

Officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) suspended the container and cut off the top of the bus to rescue a woman and take her to the trauma centre.

The victims, according to the agency, include four adult males, three adult females, a girl child, and a boy child.

An eyewitness said that the truck driver wanted to block the bus from overtaking him.

Recall that in order to curb the incidence of building collapse in the state, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had on Monday, announced the resignation of his Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako barely 24 hours after a seven-storey building under construction collapsed on Oba Idowu Abiodun Oniru Road, Oniru Estate, Victoria Island area of the state.

Two children died while three adults sustained varying degrees of injuries.

The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency confirmed the development, adding that rescue is ongoing at the scene of the incident

LASEMA Permanent Secretary, Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, in a situation report made available to journalists, said the agency has activated all its response plans.

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Situation report: Collapsed building at Adeleye Street Ladylak, Bariga.

“The Agency activated its response to the above incident and upon arrival at the incident scene, discovered that the tank scaffolding of a two-story building collapsed on a bungalow beside it and affected two rooms.

“Unfortunately two children died from the impact. Three adult males sustained injuries and were taken to nearby hospitals. The Agency’s response team alongside Lagos State Fire and LASBCA are responders at the incident scene. Rescue operation ongoing,” he said.

The Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, confirmed this in a statement.

According to him, emergency responders also rescued 15 passengers on board the boat that sunk due to a mechanical fault.

“The Lion squad of the agency responded to the above incident today 6th of July 2022,” he said. “On arrival, it was discovered that a 20-passenger ferry boat carrying 17 passengers named “R & N 2” had capsized due to a suspected mechanical fault and was rapidly submerged following its departure from the Ipakodo ferry terminal.

“A combined team of water guards, the search and rescue team of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) and LASEMA responders were transferred to the nearest hospital for treatment. They unfortunately never regained consciousness and were later declared dead.”

The LASEMA boss stated that the boat captain is being investigated by the relevant authorities while LASWA has begun a probe into the cause of the accident.

The Director-General of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Oluwafemi Oke-Osayintolu, said on Thursday,  Jan. 27, that evidence proved that all victims of the 21-storey building collapse on Gerard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, died before rescue operations began.

Oke-Osayintolu made the disclosure during a coroner’s inquest into the November 1, 2021 building collapse which killed 46 people.

Led in evidence-in-chief by counsel for the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Mr A. S. Odugbemi, the LASEMA boss said that the rescue operations were carried out by professionals and non-professionals, assisted by their equipment.

He said the agency, in its years of existence, was confronted with what he described as “a classical national emergency”.

Oke-Osayintolu said the rescue team he directed in his capacity as the incident commander moved into the incident area, following a primary assessment, partitioning the building into quadrums 1 to 4 and employing heavy and life duty equipment.

He said the use of drones and Delsa equipment for detection of life enabled the primary and secondary emergency responders to determine that there was no life in the debris before work commenced.

Oke-Osayintolu said: “Where we put the excavator is the first quorum. We used the Delsa to detect if there is somebody that is alive and I said this type of collapse building, it’s unique itself. When they pile on one another there won’t be air going in, it will compress the victim and the way our response was operated we divided the place into quadrums. We used a Delsa and a drone, I can say that the probability is close to zero.”

Speaking on oath before the coroner, Mr Ola Adeosun, representing Prowess Engineering Ltd, supported the claims of the LASEMA Director-General on the casualty.

Adeosun said: “My Lord, with my medical background, I have attended to a lot of emergencies in the country, I will say no.”

The coroner asked:  “Are you telling this court that before moving your equipment, you must have confirmed that there is no person alive?”

The witness replied: “100 per cent yes, My Lord. There was nobody that died in the course of our intervention to the best of my knowledge.”

Officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency said one more body was recovered by emergency responders.

LASEMA spokesperson, Nosa Okunbor, also stated that 20 people were rescued while giving an update Monday morning.

He gave the breakdown as “10 seriously injured and taken to Lagos Island General Hospital, 10 mildly injured and treated at the scene. Eight fatalities.”

Though the cause of the collapse is yet to be given, it was learnt that the building was under construction when it collapsed around 5.40 pm.

Men of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency LASEMA have arrived at the scene and are working to put out the fire.

The Director-General, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu  confirmed the incident on Monday.

According to him, the bus with six passengers suddenly veered onto the tracks and collided with the train.

“The agency received distress calls at 8.12 am on the above. Upon arrival at the scene, it was discovered that a passenger motor GGE 972 GE with six passengers had veered onto the train tracks while crossing the rail at PWD inward Oshodi and subsequently collided with a scheduled commuter train.

“The bus was then dragged along for a stretch of the journey before the train managed to come to a complete halt,” Oke-Osanyintolu said.

The DG of LASEMA confirmed that one passenger has lost his life and been placed in the hospital morgue while the other is still undergoing treatment.

The Agency was able to successfully extricate the passengers while the wreckage of the bus has been removed to allow the free flow of commuter traffic.

Members of the public, especially drivers of commuter buses are reminded to obey traffic regulations to prevent injuries and transport delays.

LASEMA also revealed that a third vehicle, a highlander Jeep was also involved in the collision and its passengers (two adult males) sustained serious injuries before being transported to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.

The registration number of the helicopter could not be ascertained at the time of filing this report, NAN report.

The propeller of the helicopter fell on a building located at 16A, Salvation Road Opebi while the remaining parts fell in front of another building at 14, Salvation Road.

The Director-General, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr Oke-Osanyintolu Oke-Osanyintolu, confirmed the accident.

Oke-Osanyintolu said that the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) had arrived at the scene to retrieve the Black Box of the helicopter.

He said that two male occupants of building at 16A Salvation Road, Opebi died, while another male victim of the accident was resuscitated and taken to the Lagos State Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.

Oke-Osanyintolu said that emergency response was promptly mobilised to the scene of the accident.

He added that there was no fire and no additional casualty, while operation was ongoing.

The Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Mr Hakeem Owoseni and his men were on ground to facilitate crowd control.

The Lagos State Emergency Agency’s spokesperson, Nosa Okunbor, who confirmed this incident on Friday, said the cause of the fire is yet to be known.

He said: “LASEMA is in an ongoing operation at the LASTMA yard Oshodi curtailing a fire outbreak. The cause of the fire outbreak is yet to be ascertained.

“Information gathered by LRT on arrival at the scene revealed that the fire started from the compound where impounded vehicles were kept.

“A total number of ten cars and one trailer was razed by the inferno.

“No casualties recorded at the scene as the LRT, LRU Fire and LASG Fire are all responders.

“The fire has been successfully put out by joint responders, dampening down is presently ongoing.”