The Nation Newspaper

Tag: accidents

  • Nine dead, many injured in accidents

    Nine dead, many injured in accidents

    •Multiple vehicle crash   •Train hits truck

    Nine persons were confirmed dead yesterday and many others injured in rail and road crashes.

    Five people died and 19 sustained injuries in multiple accidents involving 15 vehicles at Kara Bridge, on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

    Four hangers-on were crushed when a train hit a truck at Abbatoir in Agege.

    The accident at Kara that occurred around 7am caused  a traffic gridlock for several hours.

    Operatives of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and soldiers were at the scene.

    The Nation gathered that a vehicle lost control and crashed into another; others smashed into one another in quick succession.

    The vehicles included a MAN Diesel marked JJJ342XD, DAF trucks – APP769XR and GGE818XC, two Sino trucks – KRD122XC and KRD123XC, a Mack truck – BDG561XG, a Nissan Cabster – XS216KSF, two Honda Accord cars – MUS411DG and APP303DV, Lexus Jeep – FKJ 475BR, Volkswagen bus – KTU594XM, Ford Bus – KTU340XU, Mazda Bus – AKD520XW and Nissan Bus – BDG27AA.

    LASEMA’s General Manager Adesina Tiamiyu, who was at the scene, said: “The multiple accidents involved 15 vehicles, comprising seven trucks, a pick-up, three cars and four buses.

    “Five lives were lost and 19 adults – 11 males and eight females – sustained various degrees of injuries.”

    In the Agege accident, it was gathered that the train hit a truck marked MYM63XA, which attempted to make a turn on the rail track.

    The four men who died were said to be hanging on the train. They fell during the collision. Those who sustained injuries were treated by the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS).

    Commissioner for Special Duties, Oluseye Oladejo led emergency responders, including LASEMA, LASAMBUS, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Lagos Neighbourhood and Safety Corps (LNSC), Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the police to the Agege accident scene.

    The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC’s) Lagos District Manager, Mr Jerry Ochei, said the trailer was hit by the train while reversing, killing and injuring  passengers that were hanging on the train.

    “Police assisted in evacuating the injured and the dead. The train did not derail. It continue and arrived its destination at Iddo safe,” he said.

    Tiamiyu urged motorists to adhere to road safety rules, noting that people who hang on moving trains/vehicles should desist to avoid reoccurrence.

  • Six killed in early morning accidents 

    No fewer than six persons have been reported dead in two accidents in Lagos and Ogun on Thursday.

    The accidents occurred in Agege and Kara area along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
    It was gathered that a train derailed in Agege and rammed into an articulated vehicle, killing three persons on the spot with many injured.
    At Kara, it was gathered that a multiple accident involving about 16 vehicles also killed three adults and injured many.
    Officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and other stakeholders were on ground to evacuate affected vehicles and ensure free traffic flow.

    Operatives of the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency(TRACE), Federal Road Safety Corps(FRSC) and soldiers were also working to clear the obstruction, direct traffic and assist victims.
    The Nation gathered that one of the vehicles involved in the Kara accident lost control of the wheel, crashed into another and in the ensuing milieu, others smashed into one another in quick succession.
    The Public Relations Officer of theTRACE, Babatunde Akinbiyi, listed DAF truck marked  APP 769XR, a Mazda bus  with registration number AKD 520 XN, another Mazda bus registered as BDG 327 AA and a nondescript DAF truck as vehicles involved in the early morning accident.
    Others are Cabster marked  XS216 KSF, MAN Diesel with registration number AGL 545 XF, Ford marked KTU 320 XN, LEXUS Jeep registered as  FKJ475BR, SINO Truck with registration number  KRD 122 XD,  another SINO Truck marked KRD 123 XD and one other.
    Akinbiyi also stated that three persons died while four others were injured in the accident.
  • FRSC: Speed limiter is best antidote to accidents, deaths

    FRSC: Speed limiter is best antidote to accidents, deaths

    How do we reduce road accidents? It is by installing speed limiters in vehicles to place a cap on speeding, says Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Corps Marshal Boboye Oyeyemi. He tells ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE that the Speed Limiter Device (SLD) look s promising as more motorists embrace the device. The enforcement began penultimate Saturday.

    The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) kept faith with the October 1, dateline for  enforcement of speed device in vehicles across the country.

    The corps’ rank and file were on major highways on a stop-and-check of commercial vehicles in compliance with the directive.

    The Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi, and other stakeholders in the transportation sector on September 26, in Abuja, resolved to begin the enforcement of speed limiters on October 1. The limiter is an antidote to road accidents, which have assumed a phenomenal dimension in the country.

    An executive summary of the first week of enfiorcement made available to The Nation by FRSC showed that 22, 908 vehicles were checked in the first week of the enforcement. Of this figure, only 1,164 vehicles had the SLD installed in their vehicles, meaning 21,744 vehicles were not with the device, the summary signed by Oyeyemi revealed.

    The FRSC chief believed the SLD remained the only tool to aid a drop in accident rate across the country.

    He said the tool would help the agency achieve the United Nations Decade of Action Against Road Accidents (2011-2020), to reduce crashes in the country by 50 per cent.

    “We have met with all the stakeholders on the issue of the installation of the speed limiter, and they all resolved to comply with the directive. They expressed their satisfaction with all the steps taken  to ensure that the device was installed on their trucks, our major concern is to ensure that as many motorists as possible comply,” he said.

    The agency according to him, would  embark on advisory compliance till next year, adding that the aim is to ensure that as many motorists, especially commercial fleet vehicle owners, comply.

    He continued: “We would be embarking only on the advisory enforcement for now. We are going to be issuing tickets for all road traffic violation law and any vehicle caught would be given two weeks final warning deadline, to get the device installed.”

    He added that all stakeholders agreed that any operator found contravening the rule after the moratorium, should be sanctioned.

    “We shall embark on advisory enforcement till the end of the year and full enforcement will commence by January 1 2017. We are on course; we are going ahead to enforce the directive by October 1,” he added.

    To Oyeyemi, the speed limiter was the path to restoring sanity to the nation’s roads.

    He carpeted those who are canvassing the adoption of spider technology, as against speed limiter in arresting speed violators, saying that the former would be vandalised in no time.

    “People should stop misleading the government and Nigerians simply because of their own personal financial gain. There is a difference between speed camera and a speed limiting device. Spider technology is just a brand name for a speed camera device like a CCTV mounted on the road to capture the speed of any vehicle on the road. It helps to monitor the speed of any vehicle and enable you to know if any particular vehicle has flouted the speed limit of that road.

    “So, many people have been extolling its benefits. For instance, when the camera picks the speed of a vehicle, a citation will be given and a ticket issued. But when you look at the level of our infrastructural development, the fact that we do not yet have regular electricity supply and the high level of vandalism of public facilities, then you might want to question the propriety of anyone thinking that speed camera is the best option at this stage of our development.

    “Right now, we are producing signage backup for all our road construction companies in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Works. So, how would you set out to install speed cameras with that background? Before you even finish the installation of one area, they would have removed the whole thing. Except if, with the new change mantra of the Federal Government, Nigerians’ orientation changes to start protecting, rather than vandalising public utilities and facilities,” he said.

    Oyeyemi said the speed limiter was to restrain the speed of the vehicle. For example, the marginal speed on the highway is 90 km, so the device will ensure that no matter how one accelerates, one will not exceed the prescribed speed.

    He said: “So, if your speed is 90, the calibration would be put at 95, to allow for an endurance or tolerance point. No matter how you accelerate, you can’t exceed the speed that has been calibrated on your vehicle. Another thing is that this device is installed once and for all, it is not something you would be renewing every year. If you buy a vehicle for about N1 million or more and you are to buy a speed limiting device for between N20 and N25,000, I think it is cost effective.

    “We are talking about safety here and it makes economic sense not only to protect your life but also your investment.The limiter will greatly help reduce the rate of accidents on our roads. The lives of 170 million Nigerians most of who need one form of public transportation or the other must be preserved. Our focus would be commercial vehicles first because they carry large volume of passengers and we tend to lose more lives through them than private car owners.”

    The FRSC, he said, has nothing to do with marketing the equipment. “Several marketers are already into it. It is not novel to us. Several major oil marketers, such as Mobil, MRS, Oando and Conoil, among others have keyed into installing speed limiters on their tankers long before now and we have gone ahead to ensure that all independent marketers also joined them. Now, it is compulsory to have speed limiting device on your tanker before you can load petroleum products at any of our major depots of the major marketers. We are going to insist also that it would be impossible for you to load at any tank farms if you don’t have this device. There is also some organised transport operators like the ABC, Peace Transit that have it on their fleet, so what the FRSC has simply done was just to escalate this to the national level and we invited the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to set the approved standard for use in Nigeria, which in agreement with all stakeholders, had been done.

    “So, we are working with SON to ensure that the right device is imported into the country. All we want is for you to cut down on your speed because we have found out that the possibility of saving more lives increases once one cuts down on speed and reckless driving. There are 38 accredited marketers and resellers certified by SON and the FRSC to sell the speed limiter so anybody can buy from any authorised sellers,” he said,

    The FRSC boss said the speed limiter was fundamental to the government on the grounds that if not installed, there was the likelihood that before the offender got his citation and ticket, he might have killed people. “That is why the speed limiter is, to us, fundamental and regarded as a fitting programme to complement its preparedness for the ‘’ ’Ember’ month’s safe road’’ campaign.

    ‘’The absence of road signage is becoming increasingly worrisome because they are a major cause of accidents on our roads, especially at night. The FRSC is collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Works and state Ministries of Works to assist in designing appropriate road signs, and we are ensuring that the ones we are producing are reflective, especially at night because we have seen, especially with recent cases, that most of the accidents that occurred at night were as a result of poor visibility of impediments to smooth driving on our highways.

    “So, we are committed to saving lives by making sure that our roads are fitted with reflective road signs and our major focus for now are the federal roads and if we have access to these roads, we may install the signages and bill the Federal Ministry of Works to pay us back later. The fact remains that our highways require appropriate road furniture – road signs, road markings and other facilities and this is one of the things that guides a driver, especially at night,” he said.

    Road signs, he said, help one to know how many miles one has covered and the speed limit required on the road and, especially, they help in warning drivers of the nature of the roads and what lies ahead.

    He added: ‘’Our tracking of accidents, especially those that occurred at nights, have shown that they may have been avoided if there were illuminating road signs, especially around narrow roads or very sharp bends and turns. Driers would have taken necessary precautions that would likely prevent accidents if these were in place. Our assignment is to continue to support the Federal Ministry of Works and the states to ensure that our roads are well fitted with appropriate facilities.’’

  • Traffic standstill as eight die in accidents, tanker explosion on Lagos-Ibadan Road

    Traffic standstill as eight die in accidents, tanker explosion on Lagos-Ibadan Road

    or hours, traffic stood still yesterday on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, leaving many motorists sweating and groaning in their vehicles.

    The stretch of vehicles extended from the Ibafo end of the road to the popular Ojodu-Berger Bus Stop.

    Many commuters took to trekking to avoid getting late to work.

    The gridlock was caused by a fuel tanker, which exploded on Tuesday night near Ibafo. The explosion was caused by those who trooped to the tanker to scoop fuel. Three persons, including one Andrew reportedly died; some fuel scoopers were burnt.

    The traffic congestion snowballed into Lagos, hindering movement between Berger and Ojota; scores of passengers queued at major bus stops, waiting for buses.

    Commercial motorcyclists popularly called Okada cashed in on the situation to raise their fares. They were said to have charged as much as N1,000 for a journey that used to cost N100.

    Andrew was said to have jumped off a Delta State bound when he saw the exploded tanker and broke his spinal cord.

    He was rushed to a hospital, where he died, although rescue agencies said there were no casualties in the incident. The exploded tanker engulfed four other vehicles.

    An eyewitness, Ismaila Yusuf said: “He (Andrew) was seriously injured. Some people and I rushed him to a hospital, where he died. A doctor told us his spinal cord had broken and he had internal injuries in the stomach. His body is in the mortuary.  Two of those siphoning fuel died in the explosion while seven were burnt.”

    It was learnt that residents battled to contain the inferno, which extended to another tanker marked KMC 839 XW. A container laden with engine oil also rammed into a stationary truck at Kara and somersaulted and residents trooped out at about 4am to siphon the product.

    Also yesterday, five persons were confirmed dead and 12 others injured after a sand-laden  truck rammed into a bus at World Oil, a filling station near Ogun State Property Investment Company (OPIC) on the expressway.

    The truck was said to have lost control and rammed into the 19-passenger bus, causing a multiple accident.

    Other affected vehicles were a Toyota Corolla Sedan marked LSD127EZ, a Toyota bus with registration number XA830EDY and a truck marked LSR813XH.

    Confirming the accidents, Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Hygenus Omeje told The Nation that 12 injured persons were taken to the accident and emergency unit at Ojota.

    He said the accident was caused by a bad portion of the road, adding that the driver hit a stone which he did not see.

    Omeje said: “The first accident involved three cars and a tanker. it occurred around 3am but we did not get the information till about 5am. The tanker carrying petrol hit a stone, tumbled and exploded.

    “When we got there this morning, we did not see burnt bodies and we did not also get record of anyone that was injured. We only saw the four vehicles that were burnt. so, we cannot say there were casualties.

    “The second accident occurred early in the morning too around Kara. It involved a container laden with engine oil.  The container rammed into a stationary truck. The truck is bad and was parked on the road and the trailer carrying the container rammed into it. The container fell and people trooped out and were scooping its content. No casualty was recorded in that one too.

    “The third accident involved truck carrying sand which lost control and rammed into an oncoming passenger bus. The bus had 19 passengers, eight men and 11 women. Two of them, a man and a woman died on the spot while 12, three men and nine women sustained injuries and were taken to the emergency unit at Ojota.”

    Unit Commander-in-charge of Mowe-Ibafo Unit of the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE) Mr Olusola juawo, who also confirmed the accidents, however, said there were no casualties. He blamed the lockdown on motorists driving against traffic.

    He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the Kara accident happened at about 11 p.m., but his office learnt about it at 3 a.m. and immediately rushed to the scene.

  • Eighteen die in two accidents

    Eighteen die in two accidents

    ·•FRSC cautions drivers against speeding

    Eighteen persons have died in two accidents in Abia State.

    The accidents occurred at Ofeme, on the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway in Umuahia North Local Government Area and at Umugbalu, in Ikwuano Local Government Area.

    They were reportedly caused by Sunday’s downpour.

    The Ofeme accident involved a truck, with registration number JJN 782 XB, and a mass transit bus, with registration number AKL 895 YY.

    They were aid to have had a head-on collision as they attempted to avoid a stationary truck laden with gravel with registration number XD 612 SSM.

    Speaking with our reporter in Umuahia, the state capital, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Sector Commander Stella Uchegbu said the Ofeme accident happened at 11.20 a.m last Sunday.

    She said it involved two vehicles, a MAN Diesel truck laden with yams from Enugu end of the road.

    Uchegbu said the other vehicle, which belongs to Peace Mass Transit, was heading to Enugu from Umuahia.

    The sector commander said the accident occurred where the reconstruction firm handling the road diverted vehicles to use a single lane because of the road repairs.

    According to her an eyewitness said the truck veered off the road and ran into the lane of the oncoming mini bus.

    Uchegbu said 13 persons died on the spot while two survivors, who were conveyed to a hospital, later died.

    The sector commander said the bodies of the dead, including that of a five-year-old child, had been deposited at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC).

    She said the driver of the truck fled after the accident.

    Uchegbu said: “But we immediately informed men of the police command, who took over the scene of the accident.”

    The sector commander said she had contacted the relatives of the victims through the manifest of the bus, adding that they had been identifying the bodies.

    She said investigation revealed that the accident was caused by speeding and the stationary truck on the expressway.

    The other accident at Umugbalu involved a nine-seater transport bus and an Akwa State Transport Company bus.

    Three persons were said to have died in the accident, including a six-year-old child.

    Eight others were seriously injured.

    But Uchegbu said her office was not aware of the accident.

    It was learnt that all the victims were taken to Madonna Hospital in Umuahia.

     

  • 14 die in accidents in Ogbomoso

    FOURTEEN people  died  yesterday  in two accidents in Ogbomoso, Oyo State.

    The first accident, which occurred on the Iluju-Ikoyi Road, involved a motorcycle and  a car.

    Two people died instantly and others were injured.

    In the other accident, 12 people died on the  Ogbomoso-Oyo Road.

    The victims were mostly traders coming from the North to Lagos.

    An eyewitness said an  articulated vehicle, carrying packaged products, veered off the Oyo Road.

    The bodies have been deposited in a hospital morgue  in Oyo.

    A Federal Road Safety Corps  Official (FRSC) said:  “ There were two accidents in Ogbomoso yesterday.

    The first occuered   at Iluju  and the other  on the Ogbomoso-Oyo Road.

    “Fourteen people  have died  while some are injured”

  • ‘Charms don’t prevent accidents’

    ‘Charms don’t prevent accidents’

    The Ogun State Coordinator, Federal Road Safety Corps’ (FRSC) Special Marshal and Partnership (SMP), Elder Emmanuel Fagbenro, has urged motorists to stop believing in the efficacy of charms while driving. He also advised them against the erroneous belief that road crashes during the “ember” months are either spiritual or caused by evil spirits.

    Elder Fagbenro spoke during the “ember month” campaign rally organised by the Egba Division of SMP at Panseke Motor Park, Abeokuta the Ogun State capital.

    He noted that the last four months of the year are usually characterised by an upsurge in road crashes which are attributable to non-compliance with traffic rules and regulations. He reeled off these traffic infractions to include overloading, over speeding and driving against traffic by motorists. This, he said, is widespread due to an increase in vehicular movement and greater number of travellers.

    He said: “Accidents occur on the road as a result of what we do or failed to do. Statistic has shown that most of the crashes occurred on the roads as a result of wrong beliefs and over-confidence on the efficacy of charms on the part of drivers.

    Fagbenro reiterated the FRSC’s commitment to work with other traffic agencies to ensure discipline and orderliness are maintained on the highways during the Yuletide period and beyond.

    The SMP Coordinator appealed to transport unions and other stakeholders to prevail on their members to have a change of attitude on use of the roads. This, he said, would guarantee safety of lives and properties during the Christmas festivities and beyond.

    He urged motorists to avoid driving under the influence of alcohol while on the wheel. He advised vehicle owners to ensure that their vehicles are road worthy before setting out on a journey.

     

  • Expert attributes industrial accidents to negligence

    African labour experts have attributed industrial accidents, injuries and diseases in work places to negligence by industrial entrepreneurs who often compromise safety standards and regulations.

    Director at the African Regional Labour Administration Centre (ARLAC), Mr. Daniel E. Neburagho stated in Harare, Zimbabwe at a workshop on Employment Injury Compensation Schemes.

    Neburagho said the workshop was a collaboration of ARLAC and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to strengthen labour administration systems in 19-member countries.

    According to him, ILO statistics reveals that only 33 per cent  of the global labour force is covered by the law on employment injury through mandatory social insurance, adding that the statistics also indicates that even when voluntary social insurance coverage and employer liability provisions are included, only 39.4 per cent of the labour force is covered by the law.

    He observed that, in practice, actual access to employment injury protection is even lower, largely because of poor enforcement of legislation in many countries, the majority of which are in Africa and Asia.

    He stressed that, often times, industrial accidents, injuries and diseases occur because safety standards and regulations are compromised by industrial enterprises.

    He said: “As the popular saying goes, prevention is better than cure and once adequate preventive measures are in place, it obviously reduces the incidence and liability of catering for injuries and diseases during work.”

    While emphasising the need to enhance working conditions in respect of occupational safety and health, he expressed optimism that as more countries move from employer liability as the basis for employment injury protection to a mechanism based on social insurance, levels of protection for workers are likely to improve.

    Participants at the workshop were drawn from Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Nigeria, Malawi, Mauritius, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe.

  • Five die, six injured in two Lagos accidents

    Five die, six injured in two Lagos accidents

    No fewer than five persons have been confirmed dead with 11 others injured after two separate accidents in Lagos.

    At Agege on Monday night, a trailer with registration number PKM 180 XA rammed into a Mass Transit Train Service (MTTS) travelling from Iddo Terminus in Lagos State to Ijoko, in Ogun State.

    In Epe, a 13-seater passenger bus marked AAA868XJ, belonging to Young Shall Grow Motors, hit a truck carrying a caterpillar yesterday.

    The two incidents claimed two and three lives respectively.

    It was gathered that the two victims of the Agege mishap were ‘hangers on’ of a train  which crushed a truck that had brake failure and entered the railway on Monday evening.

    The accident occurred at the Pen Cinema, shortly after the train left the Agege sub-Station, where it discharged its passengers.

    While the driver of the truck was said to  have escaped, two of the three “ticketless’ passengers on the train died on the spot, while the third person that sustained serious injury was rushed to the General Hospital at Ikeja.

    An eye witness, Aliu, who sells barbecue meat close to the accident spot, said no fewer than 12 persons’ remains were picked from under the train after the accident. He said the train had to stop for several minutes for the bodies to be removed.

    Another eye witness blamed the driver of the trailer for refusing to stop when flagged down by the level crossing guards.

    The victims, he said, were part of the illegal roof riders who fell off the engine compartment where they had hung for a ride to Ijoko.

    The Nation learnt that the driver of the 13-seater inter-state passenger bus was also among the dead persons.

    The Lagos State Fire Service Director, Rasaq Fadipe and the southwest spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye, said the injured were taken to the Epe General Hospital for treatment.

    They stated that all the dead persons in both accidents were men, adding that their remains have been deposited at the morgues.

     

  • Four die in Oyo multiple road accidents

    For several hours yesterday, traffic was halted following multiple auto crashes that led to the death of four commuters on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Akinyele Local Government Area, Oyo State.

    Three different accidents occurred in close succession between 50 and 60 metres.

    It was gathered that the accidents occurred around 9am.

    Witnesses said an accident involving a petrol tanker happened first.

    The source added that the tanker driver lost control of the vehicle while trying to avoid a hitch.

    The petrol-laden tanker went up in flames.

    Also, a container-laden truck on its way to Oyo collided with a commercial bus while trying to avoid the burning tanker.

    Some occupants of the vehicles were said to have died. Others were badly injured.

    On the other side of the road, three commercial vehicles driving towards Ibadan also crashed, leaving some of the passengers badly injured.

    A witness, Kunle Alao, while commenting on the multiple accidents, said they occurred “like bomb explosions in a split-second”.

    “We heard the loud bang and ran away. Then another crash happened and then the third crash,” he said.

    Some officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and policemen were deployed to the sites to rescue victims trapped in one of the damaged vehicles.

    Another tragedy struck in Ibadan yesterday as a tenant in a flat lost his possessions to an afternoon fire, which occurred on Ayetoro Street at Oke-Itunu, Ibadan.

    The flat, which is one of the four in the one-storey building, was completely razed, except for a Bible.

    Furniture, television set, a digital compact decoder, refrigerator, clothes, a laptop, and other valuables were burnt.

    It was gathered that the inferno, which started around 3pm, was prevented from spreading to the other flats through the combined efforts of the men of the state Fire Service and residents.

    Though the cause of the fire was unknown, some residents claimed it might be due to power surge.

    “It happened a few minutes after light was restored,” a resident told The Nation.

    The victim, who was visibly shaking and in his late 60s, could only answer: “I have lost everything I laboured for. I don’t know where to start again. We are just grateful that we did not lose anybody, except our properties.”