A truck carrying plywood fell off the Ojuelegba bridge in Lagos at 8pm on Tuesday.

The truck fell on three commercial buses and a private car under the bridge with many passengers trapped.

Officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the Nigerian Red Cross and the Nigeria Police arrived the scene shortly after the accident to carry out search and rescue operations.

Two persons were later confirmed to have died in the accident and two others injured, according to an update provided by LASEMA General Manager, Mr Adesina Tiamiyu.

Similar accidents had claimed lives in the last three years. In one of the accidents in September 2015, in which three members of the same family died, the relations are pursuing a N10 billion compensation suit at the Lagos High Court. Both the Lagos and Federal governments, along with the owners of the truck, are defendants in the case.

Tiamiyu spoke with newsmen at the scene of the latest accident; as remnants of the plywood were being cleared to ease vehicular movement in the area.

He said: “A flat bed truck laden with plywood and finished boards tilted on top of Ojuelegba bridge and fell on three commercial buses and a Toyota Corolla Camry.

“Unfortunately, two people died while two other people sustained injuries but what we are doing now is recovery.

“We have removed the vehicles from the road and we have also taken the trucks off the bridge.

“We are now trying to clear the remnants of the plywood at Ojuelegba under-bridge and the top of the bridge.

“That vehicle was definitely overloaded and that was what I think caused the accident.”

Tiamiyu, however, urged commercial drivers to park at designated bus-stops and to stop parking indiscriminately.

He said: “If the buses were not parked indiscriminately, the accident would not claim lives.

“Commercial drivers should not turn Ojuelegba into a bus-stop.

“Let’s have free drive under Ojuelegba Bridge.”

•Sourced from Channels TV and NAN reports.

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