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A pedestrian bridge at Alapere Ketu Estate Gate on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway collapsed in the late hours of Thursday after a truck rammed into it, got stuck and caused damage to the entire bridge.
The Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Transportation, Sola Giwa, confirmed this in a telephone chat (with The Punch) on Friday.
According to him, about 12 trucks were moving in a convoy and 10 of them had successfully passed under the bridge but the 11th one, due to speeding and lack of patience, got stuck under the bridge and caused serious damage, forcing the bridge to collapse.
He said, “The accident occurred at about 11 pm on Thursday. The trucks were about 12 moving inward the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway when it happened.
“Ten of the trucks had successfully manoeuvred their way but the 11th one, due to the driver’s impatience to safely pass under the bridge and the height of the container it was carrying, rammed into the bridge and damaged the entire bridge.”
Giwa noted further that emergency responders were able to clear the debris off the road to allow for free flow of traffic while stressing that no casualty was recorded.
“Immediately we got wind of the incident, we notified the necessary authorities and the debris has been cleared off the road. In some minutes now, there will be an easy flow of traffic. No casualty was recorded in the accident,” he noted.
Meanwhile, the acting General Manager of the Lagos State Transportation Management Authority, Bakare Oki, who was also at the scene of the accident as a first responder, appealed to road users to always exercise patience while using the road so that situations like this can be avoided.
“This is yuletide season and we understand that people are often in a haste but patience is key whenever you’re on the road, not just because of your safety alone but because of the safety of other road users.
“I am appealing to drivers and road users especially on Lagos roads to exercise patience and caution so that casualties on the road will be minimal if not eradicated”, he said.
