Posted by By JULIANA FRANCIS (Lagos), MOSHOOD ADEBAYO, (Abeokuta) and TUNDE RAHEEM (Akure) on
Five persons were feared crushed to death and many others injured at the Tejuosho, Yaba market on Wednesday when a train rammed into traders selling on the railway tracks.
Five persons were feared crushed to death and many others injured at the Tejuosho, Yaba market on Wednesday when a train rammed into traders selling on the railway tracks.
Also, night journey by some students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State ended in tragedy as the bus carrying them from Oshodi (Lagos) plunged into a river few kilometers from the main campus of the tertiary institution on Tuesday.
Two of the students died in the river while 10 others, who received severe injuries are now recuperating in both general and private hospitals in the ancient town.
At least, 10 persons including an aged woman also lost their lives while 11 others were seriously injured in a fatal motor accident on Tuesday along the Akure-Owo Road in Ondo State.
It was gathered that the accident occurred when a luxury bus and an 18-seater commuter bus had a head-on collision.
Eye-witness accounts claimed that the train, which was coming from Oyingbo enroute Oshodi did not sound the horn until he was almost upon the haggling customers and traders, who had their wares displayed on the rail track.
Two women bargaining with a cloth seller were reportedly the first to feel the fury of the moving train as it dragged them for some distance before coming to a stop.
The casualties also include a beggar, a snacks hawker and a man whose limb was completely chopped off.
The train also damaged several tables cluttering its tracks before halting.
The traders claimed that the driver of the train attempted to bolt away but was apprehended by a soldier.
When Daily Sun visited the scene, some of the injured people were being assisted into vehicles to take them to hospital for treatment. One of them, a man, covered with a white cloth was barely breathing. A woman, drenched in her own blood, screamed hysterically as she was led away. There were splatters of blood at the scene of the accident, with damaged tables scattered, all over while several shops were locked.
The angry traders staged a demonstration, wielding sticks and chanting war slogans as they milled from one end of the market to the other.
The train, which was abandoned at about 12 p.m when the accident occurred, was later driven off at about 1p.m.
The protesters heaped the blame of the fatal accident on the market union. 'They collect N50,000 from us! Look at this road, there were only two tables that were supposed to be there, but because they keep collecting money, and keep adding more tables they've blocked the road," complained a trader.
Another trader, who simply identified himself as Lucky, explained to Daily Sun that there was already a fracas in the market before the accident.
According to him, the union members, for reasons best known to them, shut down some shops and walked way, forcing a lot of the traders to move to the railway to sell their goods.
Daily Sun gathered that similar accident had occurred two years ago at the spot. Attempts made to speak to members of the union proved abortive, as they were said to have fled, to avoid the wrath of the angry mob.
Meanwhile, the police were anxiously being awaited to come and restore peace.
In another development, a fully loaded Isuzu Mazda 18 seater bus with registration number, Ogun XA 562 SRA conveying students was said to have left Lagos for the universitytown at about 7.30p.m. on Tuesday but got involved in an accident on Ome bridge, a few metres away from the gate of the main campus of the institution.
Eyewitnesses told Daily Sun that the bus, which was said to be on top speed as it approached the narrow bridge, spilled the passengers, mainly students into the river after it somersaulted several times in a bid to negotiate the dangerous bridge.
The late students whose identities could not be immediately ascertained were a male and a female who were said to be returning to the campus after the over three months strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) penultimate Sunday.
Their remains have been deposited at the university's teaching hospital, Sagamu, while the university community was in mourning when Daily Sun visited the campus yesterday.
Among the injured was a 400 level Philosophy student who simply gave her name as Dupe Adedoyin.
Speaking with Daily Sun, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Prince Gbenga Adekoya, who accompanied the state Commissioner for Health, Mrs. Abiodun Oduwole, to the scene late on Tuesday described the accident as very unfortunate.
Adekoya told Daily Sun that the State Emergency Service (SEMA) responded immediately to the unfortunate incident by deploying its ambulances to the scene of the accident. "We did everything humanly possible to save the students, but alas two died even before help could reach them," he lamented.
An eyewitness said the Ondo State accident occurred at the outskirt of Owo town at about 4:pm
It reportedly caused a traffic snarl on the ever-busy road, as motorists were said to have had hectic time passing the road as officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) were busy evacuating the corpses and wreckage of the buses off the road.
It was gathered that the accident was caused by the driver of the 18-seater bus.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Adeniran Aremu, who confirmed the accident, said he could not ascertain the number of casualties.
But the Sector Commander of the FRSC, Mr. Ahmed Hassan said eight persons died and 11 were injured in the crash.
He added that the corpses and the injured victims had since been taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Owo.
Hassan appealed to motorists and other road users to always drive with care and to ensure that their vehicles were in good shape before putting them on the road. He noted that automobile accidents kill faster than HIV/AIDS.
He said that officials of the commission had intensified their efforts to ensure that mechanically deficient vehicles were no longer allowed to ply the nation's roads.
He warned those who were driving vehicles, which were not road worthy to effect their repairs or have them impounded by the FRSC.