Six passengers were killed on Tuesday, March 31st, 2020 in Lagos, when a truck lost control and fell on a fully-loaded taxi. The accident occurred on the first day of the government-imposed 14-day lockdown, after Epe long bridge inwards Epe Expressway.

Flavision learnt that seven passengers were inside the Opel car, with registration number SMK-312ES, but six of them lost their lives in the road accident. The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) confirmed that the accident took in the evening on Tuesday.

Director-General of LASEMA, Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyitolu, said:

Investigations revealed that a total of seven people were in the crushed car with six of them having lost their lives on or shortly after impact.

Eyewitnesses told our correspondent that the lone survivor was trapped beneath the silo truck for several hours.

It was gathered that LASEMA’s heavy-duty equipment was eventually deployed by the emergency response team to disentangle the sole survivor of the accident – an adult man simply identified as “Lekan”. The corpses of the six deceased passengers were taken to the morgue, the agency confirmed.

Dr. Oke-Osanyitolu appealed to the general public to strictly adhere to the social distancing guidelines as stipulated by the Lagos State Government.

Oke-Osanyitolu said:

We also wish to appeal to members of the public to comply with the COVID-19 social distancing guidelines laid down by the Governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwoolu, to avoid endangering themselves as well as the rescue workers who are already operating under extremely challenging conditions.

He further said that the recovery operation had been concluded, adding that the overturned truck has also been towed away, to avoid obstruction of the road.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.