Tragedy struck in Lagos about 4:45pm on Wednesday, when a container skidded off the Ojuelegba bridge in Lagos, and landed on cars in motion, crushing some occupants in the vehicles, 3 people reportedly died .
NigerianEye gathered gathered that the about five tons container which was being conveyed by a heavy duty truck on the bridge, overturned and fell to the ground.
The situation which was said to have frightened onlookers, made several motorists including the driver of a white vehicle hit by the container to flee for their lives.
But unfortunately, the driver of the SUV, said to be a female, and another person were trapped underneath the container, which completely smashed the vehicle.
It took the combine effort of the Federal Fire Service, whose office is located around Ojuelegba and other good samaritans to evacuate the container.
Confirming the incident, the spokesperson, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye, said there was just one occupant in the black SUV.
Farinloye, who said other rescue agencies were yet to get to the scene at the time of filing the report, disclosed that they were trapped in the gridlock caused by the accident.
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Why the container fell off — FRSC
While some eye witnesses claimed that the container could have fallen off because it was not latch, the Federal Road Safety Corps deduced otherwise. The Lagos State Sector Commander, Mr Hyginus Omeje, when contacted stated that information at his disposal showed that the container was latch because it fell alongside the flat belt on which a container is hooked.
According to him: If a container falls without the flat belt, then it means it was not latch and necessary action would be taken against its owner. But in this case, the container fell with the flat belt, indicating that it was latch.” The flat belt was severed from the head of the truck.
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“There is an ongoing operation code named Operation Scorpion initiated from the Corps , where we are on the the look out for unlatch container and its still ongoing he said”.
As at the time he spoke with newsmen, Omesje said he was on his way to have an on-the-spot assessment of the damage.
Also, the South West Spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, confirmed that only one person lost his life as against earlier speculation that several lives were lost.
He said: “Only one person is at risk and that is the driver of the SUV jeep on which the container landed “.
On his part, the Lagos State Fire Service Director, Rasaq Fadipe said two fire trucks were deplored to the scene of the accident at Ojuelegba, immediately information reached him.
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