Emergency responders on Tuesday rescued three persons trapped in a car when a truck carrying 45,000 litres of fuel crashed off the bridge opposite the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.
The Territorial Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, disclosed this in a statement.
Farinloye said the accident led to a build-up of traffic.
He explained that the incident happened when a ConOil truck which took off from Apapa heading to discharge its product at Ikeja tried to apply brakes.
According to him, the driver lost control of the vehicle and fell, trapping the car with three occupants.
Farinloye, however, said the three occupants of the vehicle were rescued alive.
“The spillage was blanketed to render the product ineffective. The driver contacted the owner of the truck to bring up another truck to transload the remaining product to a 45,000 litres truck,” Farinloye said.
He added the impact affected two more persons who were injured during the process.
“The two people include a pregnant woman and a motorcycle rider,” he said.
He said the woman and the motorcycle rider were rushed to the hospital for treatment.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Adebayo Taofiq, said the driver of the truck, Sefiyu Adamu, was arrested and handed over to the police for further investigation.
Taofiq, in a statement made available to journalists, attributed the accident to a brake failure.
According to the statement, the accident occurred as a result of brake failure on the part of the truck.
The statement partly read, “Traffic Officer Olukoga Olajide who led LASTMA rescue operations to the scene confirmed that the driver of the fallen tanker, Sefiyu Adamu, was arrested and handed over to the police for further investigation.
“You will recall that the Lagos State Government restricted trucks including petrol tanker drivers from plying Ojuelegba, Stadium and Dorma-Long Bridge to forestall further accidents on the bridge.”
