For some government staff, it was another day to go out in search of their daily bread, but the carelessness of a driver landed them in a hospital instead.
They never imagined that a few of them would make a journey of no return that fateful morning as a train collided with their bus on transit (BRT).
The date was Thursday, March 9, and the location was Adekunle Fajuyi Way in Ikeja, Lagos.
In an interview at the scene of the incident, an onlooker by the name of Musa, narrated what happened.
He is a graduate of human resources from the University of Lagos.
Wanted A Sharp Manoeuvre
“This is unbelievable; I live around here and have never seen this kind of thing before. This is the Sogunle bus stop, and I live around here.”
“I came here immediately after the incident happened.”
“The train dragged the bus from PWD to this spot, and a lot of lives were lost.”
“From what I’ve seen, about five people lost their lives at the spot.
“I feel the BRT driver was at fault because there was no way he wouldn’t have heard the train blaring its horn from a distance, but he wanted to sharply manoeuvre to the other side.
“Unfortunately, nothing happened to the driver”.
When he was asked if the rescue team showed up quickly at the scene of the accident,
He said: “This country is crazy; government workers didn’t arrive on time even after being called; the LASTMA office is not far from here; I have been here for over 45 minutes.”
“The civilians risked their lives by coming down from nearby buses and areas to go into the BRT bus to save the victims and survivors.
Government Officials Can Do Better
“If the health workers picked up the calls at the right moment, it should not take them up to five seconds to get here because I can jog down to the general hospital in less than ten minutes.”
Musa lamented that the government workers were not doing anything.
“He said the emergency numbers were not going through at some point, and when they eventually did, they arrived on the scene with one bus after the other”.
He pointed out the fact that the BRT bus was a government-owned vehicle, with a reckless driver.
Also, Musa emphasised that the government should employ emotionally and mentally stable drivers without personal bias.
He believes the deaths would have been averted if the driver was stable in mind.
Have You Read: PHOTO: Relatives Of BRT, Lagos Train Crash Victims Gather In LASUTH
At the moment, casualties are undergoing treatment at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).
