A teenage girl was yesterday killed and three others injured in an accident on Ekoro Road near Abule-Egba, Lagos.
The accident, eyewitnesses said, was caused by brake failure.
Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) official said plastics laden trailer rammed into two tricycles and a Tata bus following a brake failure.
“We can’t say whether the girl killed was inside the tricycle or the bus. The girls’ body was immediately taken to the mortuary after she was confirmed dead,” he said.
The trailer, he said, appeared like the ones from neighbouring countries.
“We cannot say which country the driver was coming from but definitely not our country. The driver and the trailer have been taken to Oke-Odo Police Station in Ile-Epo,” he said.
He said LASTMA battled traffic snarl for about five hours while trying to clear the road, adding “it was around 12 noon that we were able to free the road. The traffic stretched back till Ajasa Command and was at standstill at some point. We had to divert traffic to ease our work.”
A traffic warden with Oke-Odo Police Station, Inspector Peter Ajewole, who was at the scene, said an articulated vehicle marked KSF821XM rammed into a tricycle with registration number APP926QD.
“I was controlling traffic here around 6.30 a.m., I saw the truck coming from Abule –Egba on top speed and the driver was unable to control it.
“This may be due to brake failure and it rammed into the tricycle and killed the girl.
“We have called relevant authorities and the family of the victim to inform them about the accident,’’ he said.
Ajewole said the case had been reported to the Divisional Traffic Officer and the truck driver arrested.
Tag: Crash
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Teenager killed, three injured in crash
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Plane carrying Brazilian football team crashes, 76 feared dead
A chartered flight carrying 81 persons, including members of the Brazilian first division football team has crashed.
76 persons are feared dead, while five persons survived. -
2012 Dana crash
•A closure on this tragedy is long overdue
It is worrisome that over four years after the crash of Dana Flight 992 that killed 153 passengers, six crew members, and 10 persons on the ground in Iju-Ishaga, Lagos State, 26 families of victims of the crash and their lawyers are still waiting for the final report of investigation of cause of the accident.
Four years and three months after the crash, a consortium of British and Nigerian lawyers hired by the families wrote to the Minister of Aviation, calling on him to authorise the release of the final report of the Nigerian Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB). The investigation had been on for four years. It included a special investigation by a Joint Committee of Senate and the House, following recovery of the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) containing flight captain’s 31-minute recorded message about failure of the aircraft’s two engines before landing in Lagos. It is surprising that AIB is yet to release the final report of an investigation that had put the lives of many survivors of flight passengers on hold for four years.
This paper finds the inordinate investigation insensitive to the pain of the survivors of the victims of Nigeria’s second deadliest air crash. More worrisome is that after subjecting families of victims to several obstacle courses that included asking for their tax clearance certificates for three years and bank statements, only 30% of the compensation due to the families had been paid on the excuse that the balance of 70% could only be paid after release of the final report.
Although three years of the wait for final report of cause of the accident happened during the previous administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, there is no excuse for further delay on this life-saving decision for 26 families that lost their loved ones and bread winners in the Dana airline crash. After four years of wait, it is high time for the families of the victims and their lawyers to cry out for help, and there is no better place to ask for help than the ministry of aviation.
Undoubtedly, families of the 2012 crash have suffered enough frustration since the loss of their loved ones: lack of welfare allowance of aged parents of victims, disruption to the education of children of victims, problems with payment of rent or mortgage by their spouses, medical bills of survivors, etc. Despite all these frustrations, families of victims have demonstrated enough patience by providing all the documentations required of them since the investigation commenced in 2013. Any further delay in releasing the final report of the AIB will aggravate the pain that survivors of the victims have been carrying for the past four years.
In addition, any further delay on the part of AIB has the disadvantage of preventing the aviation industry from learning lessons from the Dana crash that may assist in averting similar accidents in the country. Moreover, further delay can deny direly needed opportunity for a closure on this tragic event.
Remembering that the previous government returned the license of Dana three months after the accident to enable Dana go back to business, and realising that governance is a continuous process regardless of change in the party in power, The Nation calls on the Federal Government to bring a closure to the agony of parents, spouses, and children of victims of the four-year old crash.
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Man dies in crash
Driver of an Hyundai car marked KJA421AH was yesterday confirmed dead after a petrol laden tanker rammed into his vehicle.
The 33,000 liter tanker marked AGL664XG, belonging to Forte Oil spilled its content into nearby drainages when the accident occurred around 3am at Ikorodu roundabout in Lagos.
The tanker driver was said to have lost control while trying to make a U-turn.
The police, officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Fire Service, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) were said to have mobilised to the scene to prevent fire.
It was gathered that the motorist, whose car was wrecked, was trapped in it until the first responders got to the scene at about 4:30am.
LASEMA General Manager Adesina Tiamiyu and NEMA spokesman Ibrahim Farinloye said the prompt response of emergency workers prevented an inferno that would have wreaked havoc in the densely populated area.
“Prompt response prevented the incident from escalating into a major disaster with the spillage and also proximity of the incident to a filling station.
“The truck was carefully lifted upright, while the dead body was extricated with the use of light duty equipments and subsequently taken to Ikorodu General Hospital Mortuary. The vehicles were cleared off the road and handed to the police.
“Proper investigation would be carried out on the cause of the accident by the relevant government agencies. Motorists, especially articulated truck drivers are advised to avoid over speeding and also adhere to all traffic rules and regulation,” said Tiamiyu.
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NLNG’s earnings may dip by over 50% on oil price crash
Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) earnings this year may drop by as much as $6 billion over 50 per cent, compared to 2014 earnings.
The firm’s Managing Director, Babs Omotowa, told The Nation that the realities in the global oil and gas, especially in Nigeria, have adversely affected oil and gas operations.
To underscore the impact of the price crash, he said in 2011, when crude oil sold for as much as $140 per barrel, NLNG earned over $11 billion, but this year, considering low oil price and some local challenges confronting Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, anticipated earnings will be about $5 billion.
He said: “Low oil price has affected our revenue significantly because gas price follows oil price. Compared to 2014 when oil price was about $140 per barrel when we had over $11 billion, this year we might be earning about $5 billion. That is clearly more than 50 per cent reduction in revenue.
“Oil price fluctuation is always expected, so from 2012 we had already started to plan in anticipation that oil and gas prices will come down. Since 2012 we had anticipated price crash and we have been working towards it. We have been able to take action to minimise our cost because while we cannot control oil price, we can control our cost, and improve our efficiencies.Even though we are more than 50 per cent lower in revenue, we will still be able to deliver a net income after tax of close to $6 billion at the end of the year.”
On the impact of the renewed attacks on oil facilities by the Niger Delta militants, Omotowa said militancy affects the oil and gas industry in Nigeria and not just the NLNG.
He said the development of the region would help in significantly reducing insurgency, urging stakeholders to collaborate to achieve that objective with the government leading the way.
“Issues around militancy affect the entire oil and gas industry. Since 2008 when we started to see this insurgency in the Niger Delta, it has affected oil and gas generally, so I wouldn’t go to any specifics on NLNG but I will say for us as a country, this is a major issue that made the country to lower production and higher cost for the industry. All the stakeholders must work together to try and find lasting solution for the betterment of the country.
“It is an issue that we all need to pay attention to and find ways to resolve, bring all the gladiators together. I think the key thing at the end of the day is that the Niger Delta where oil and gas is produced has to be developed. That is the fundamental cause that everybody can talk about – the devastation of the environment, poor skills, poor development and no infrastructure. We all need to work together, government especially, which has the biggest role to play in providing infrastructure, and the oil and gas industry have to support in all that effort. I think if we all can address that, it will gradually bring an end to the insurgency,” he added.
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10 die in Oyo-Ibadan road crash
Ten people were feared dead and three sustained serious injuries at the weekend in a road crash, which occurred at Itose area on the Oyo-Ibadan expressway.
Four men, four women and two children died in the crash.
Motorists and passersby broke down in tears as they helplessly watched the victims of the ill-fated vehicles.
Some of the motorists abandoned their journey to join the rescue team and others sympathised with the deceased families.
It was learnt that the crash involved an Ilorin-Ogbomoso bound Toyota Hiace bus with registration number LSD 191 XK, coming from Sango Ota, Ogun State.
“The driver of the bus lost control after swerving from the road. The bus then rammed into the filling station’s wall before heading into a deep ditch during which bodies of most of the victims were seen flinging away from the bus,” a witness said.
But the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) spokesperson, Tunde Onijala, who confirmed the incident to The Nation, said the accident occurred around 5:20pm
He said the injured victims were taken to Akinlolu and St Patricks hospitals for treatment.
Onilaja added that the bodies were deposited at Adeoyo Hospital, Morgue, Ibadan.
He said: “The cause of the crash was wrongful overtaking and loss of control by the driver of the Toyota bus. He was travelling from Ibadan to Oyo. It was in that process that the driver rammed the bus into an oncoming truck travelling to Ibadan.”
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Fleeing robbery suspect dies in road crash
An armed robbery suspect was at the weekend knocked down by a vehicle at Ijanikin, Lagos while fleeing from policemen.
The suspect was said to have died on the spot. One of his alleged accomplices, Bassey Eyo, 22, was arrested by policemen attached to Ijanikin Division.
It was gathered that the incident occurred around 9:30pm by Ojo Lowo Bus Stop on Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
The police allegedly caught the suspected armed robbers robbing road users but while their accomplices escaped, Eyo and the deceased were not that fortunate.
Police spokesperson Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent (SP), said the corpse has been deposited at the mortuary.
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Five die, others injured in road crash
Five persons, including two children, were yesterday confirmed dead after a multiple accident on the Third Mainland Bridge.
According to the State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), five others were injured and rushed to the Trauma Centre.
It was gathered that the accident, which occurred around 6:10pm, involved three vehicles – a LAGBUS, Hilux truck belonging to Ikorodu Vigilante Group known as Oyabo and a Rover Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV).
Among the dead were three women and two children – a boy and girl.
It was learnt that the LAGBUS and truck drivers collided.
The Rover SUV driver, it was learnt, was behind the vehicles and rammed into them.
LASEMA General Manager Michael Akindele said the bodies were deposited at the Mainland Hospital Mortuary by the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU) officials.
He said: “Proper investigation would be carried out on the cause of the accident by the relevant government agencies. Motorists are advised to refrain from speeding and also adhere to all traffic rules and regulation to avoid incident such as this.”
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Again, crude oil prices crash
Oil prices fell slightly at the weekend, remaining near the previous day’s highs, on the prospect of talks by exporters about ways to prop up a market grappling with a supply overhang.
Brent crude futures were down 19 cents a barrel higher at $45.84 per barrel by 1000 GMT (0600 ET), from a three-week high of $46.66 earlier in the day.
United States West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude stood at $43.41 a barrel, down by 8 cents after touching its highest level since July 25, at $44.17 per barrel.
Both price benchmarks rose more than 4 per cent last Thursday after Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Khalid al-Falih said oil producers would discuss potential action to stabilise oil prices during a meeting next month in Algeria.
“Yesterday (Thursday) was a big move in reaction to the Saudi oil minister’s comments. Now today (Friday) there is a reassessment, but the comments are probably not enough to trigger a sustained rally,” Olivier Jakob of consultancy Petromatrix in Zug, Switzerland said.
An outlook published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) that said it expected the supply and demand balance to tighten towards year-end also supported prices.
Traders said a drop of 8.1 per cent in China’s oil output in July, to a five-year low of 16.72 million tonnes, also lifted prices because it would mean Asia’s biggest economy has to import more crude.
Despite the output fall in China, the world’s biggest energy consumer, the market impact is mixed as its refined product exports are increasing.
“To be bullish, there would also need to be a drop in refining output,” Jakob of Petromatrix said.
Oil prices are still more than 12 per cent below their last peak in June, as brimming storage tanks and production that exceeds consumption weighs on markets.
Iran slashed its September official selling price for light crude to Asia by $1.30 a barrel, the latest sign that exporters are willing to accept discounts in return for market share.
AB Bernstein said global oil production rose almost 0.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in July from the previous month, to 97.01 million bpd, while commercial inventories increased by 5.7 million barrels to 3.09 billion barrels in June.
Despite cheap crude feedstocks prices, analysts said refinery margins, known as cracks, were poor as refiners continued to make more fuel than the market can absorb.
For July, Bernstein put Brent cracking margins at $3.02 per barrel (down $1.83 from June); U.S. Gulf Coast cracking margins at $5.06 a barrel (down $0.03).
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Six die as bus, SUV crash in Ibadan
Six persons were killed in a road accident yesterday at Quarry area of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The crash involved two Lagos-bound vehicles – an 18-seater commercial bus and one ML Benz sport utility vehicle (SUV).
The cause of the crash was unknown as at the time of filing this report.
The two vehicles were totally damaged and the bodies of the occupants were mangled.
Some officials of the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) and a team of policemen were seen at the scene of the crash removing the remains of the victims.
Two of the crash victims, who sustained injuries, were attended to.
A police van was used to evacuate the bodies of the victims.
The incident led to a gridlock on the highway as security operatives were seen diverting the traffic to the other lane.
FRSC’s spokesman tunji Onijala confirmed six dead.