At least two people were feared dead and many others injured on Friday, July 20, 2018, as a train crushed a commercial bus in Lagos.
The sad incident occurred in Agege around Odejobi junction. According to eyewitnesses, the accident was caused by the parking of the commercial bus, popularly known as Danfo, just beside the rail tracks around the construction point said to be the landing location of the Pen Cinema bridge currently under construction.
“The yeye driver of the Danfo na him cause the accident. He park the motor come go defecate but the heap of sand and granite no let the train driver see the motor in time, that is why the accident happen and people died and many get injury,” an eyewitness narrated to Saturday Telegraph in pidgin English.
Also speaking about the accident which occurred early Friday, a trader who deals in clothes beside the rail tracks and who gave her name as Chidinma Nwobi, said she was shocked a person could be as silly as parking so close to the rail tracks. “This is why I always say these Danfo guys are too silly to be considered normal. He parked his bus there and they said he went to defecate.
So, the train was coming like that and there was nothing to stop it so suddenly. Many of those we see hanging around trains got injured and I heard even more than two people died,” she said.
According to those who spoke with journalists, who were at the scene between 10.30 am and 2 pm, the accident and attendant injury led some boys from the train station to attack anyone in sight. Another bus driver, Wale Akintunde, who also spoke to Saturday Telegraph at the scene, said the driver was nowhere to be found after the incident, especially with the commotion that ensued just after.
“Policemen from this station on the railway tracks and those of Elere looked away when the crisis was on, it took a team of Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps to overpower them and restore order. Once the accident happened, some people got injured while about two of them feared dead, many of those hanging on the train were lucky to escape unhurt and those at the train station just a few metres behind, started running towards the scene.
They attacked everyone in sight, with everyone including all the traders. We even heard gun shots and I really can’t say where it came from, I am aware no security agent was around at the time. According to him, officers from the police station close by which is actually the Railway Police Station as well as Elere Police Station just across, stayed away during the fracas. The mob, operating without hindrance, wasted no time in setting the bus ablaze.
When Saturday Telegraph got to the scene, the debris of the torched vehicle has been moved to the premises of the Railway Police Station. When our correspondent sought to speak with officers, they directed him to the headquarters of the Nigerian Railway Corporation. Traders, who usually display their wares everywhere, beside the rail tracks, were seen huddled around in groups, discussing the tragedy while also lamenting their inability to sell for the day.
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