ABUJA, Nigeria — Two separate road accidents involving trucks in southern Nigeria have killed 20 people, including children, authorities said Sunday, with many of the victims left unrecognizable with burns.
In Nigeria’s commercial hub, Lagos, a truck carrying a heavy container has landed a commercial bus on a busy bridge in the Ojuelegba area of the city, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu of the state agency said in a statement. emergency response.
“Further investigation revealed that the bus was picking up passengers when the truck lost control and fell over the side of the bridge,” he said.
Only one woman survived, while nine passengers, including two children, died in the crash, it added.
Residents quickly assembled at the scene minutes after the truck fell on top of the bus, but none of the passengers could be pulled out under the weight of the 20-foot container until officials arrived with rescue tools about an hour later.
Earlier on Sunday, another truck collided with a bus in the Odigbo council area of Ondo state, near Lagos, killing all passengers on board, Nigeria’s road safety agency said.
“Eleven people were left unrecognizable with burns” in the early morning crash blamed on reckless driving, according to Richard Adetoro of the highway safety agency. “Because it was a fire incident, people couldn’t get to the scene until the fire department arrived.”
Traffic accidents are common in many parts of Nigeria, where the roads are in poor condition and traffic regulations are often not followed. They are worst in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, where trucks and other heavy vehicles often ply the same roads as passengers.
The authorities have been unable to stop the accidents despite the policies they have introduced to make the roads safer. Experts say this is due to the lack of enforcement of road traffic regulations in addition to the poor state of many roads in Nigeria.
