A fatal road accident occurred on Sunday along Ikorodu Road in Lagos, killing an eight-month-old baby and an adult woman.
The crash took place near Olabode House, shortly before the Obanikoro axis of the busy highway.
According to the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency, LASTMA, the incident involved a commercial bus that was travelling at a dangerously high speed from the Palmgrove area towards Anthony when it suddenly suffered a mechanical failure, causing the driver to lose control.
LASTMA said the vehicle swerved off its designated lane, crossed the road median, and entered the opposite carriageway, where it rammed into a moving Volkswagen car conveying passengers from Anthony towards Palmgrove.
The agency explained that the force of the collision led to the immediate death of a female passenger in the Volkswagen, while an eight-month-old female infant later died from injuries sustained in the crash.
The tragic loss, LASTMA noted, has left residents and road users along the corridor in deep shock and mourning.
Emergency responders from LASTMA, with assistance from members of the public, swiftly carried out rescue operations at the scene, pulling several victims from the wreckage.
In a statement, LASTMA’s Director of Public Affairs and Enlightenment, Adebayo Taofiq, disclosed that 10 people were rescued with varying degrees of injuries.
Six victims were extracted from the Volkswagen commercial vehicle, while four others were evacuated from the red Tata bus involved in the accident.
The injured were taken to nearby medical facilities for urgent treatment, while the bodies of the deceased were recovered and evacuated by officials of the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit, SEHMU.
In the aftermath of the crash, LASTMA General Manager, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, warned commercial drivers against speeding and stressed the importance of regular vehicle maintenance to prevent avoidable tragedies.
Bakare-Oki also expressed sympathy to the families of the victims and wished those injured a speedy recovery.
