Bus somersaults on Third Mainland Bridge, injures 12

Twelve  people sustained injuries on Tuesday after an 18-seater passenger bus somersaulted on the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.

Our correspondent learnt that the accident occurred around 1.50pm.

Eyewitnesses told PUNCH Metro that the accident was caused by a burst tyre. The driver of the bus, with number plate, APP366XD, was said to have applied the brakes suddenly, thus setting the vehicle on a ghastly surmersault.

A fruit vendor, who identified herself simply as Bose, said, “The bus was heading towards Oworonshoki when it had a burst tyre. The driver lost control and he almost hit the railing of the bridge. He swerved and then somersaulted and landed on its side. The bus soon caught fire.”

It was learnt that men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, led by Commander Temitope Adebayo, along with other motorists, saved the passengers, some of whom had sustained burns.

“We had to break the windscreen of the bus and pull out the victims one after the other as part of the bus was already on fire,” a traffic official said.

The LASTMA men were said to have conveyed the victims to the Gbagada General Hospital.

It was observed that the incident caused traffic congestion from the Oworonshoki end of the bridge to the Lagoon front of the University of Lagos.

LASTMA men, as well as policemen attached to the Rapid Response Squad, were seen diverting traffic and controlling the crowd which had gathered to take pictures of the incident.

No sooner had the bus been evacuated than a Sport Utility Vehicle collided with another passenger bus.

Although no one was injured in the second accident, the accident further compounded the traffic congestion.

Copyright PUNCH.