By Evelyn Usman
A truck laden with granite on Thursday crushed a Toyota saloon car at Eleko Junction along the Lekki–Ajah Expressway, killing the driver and critically injuring his wife.
The crash, which occurred in the early hours of the day, left doctors at an undisclosed hospital battling to save the life of the female passenger, believed to be the deceased’s spouse.
Preliminary investigations by the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) indicated that the truck driver, whose identity had yet to be confirmed, was travelling from the Epe axis at high speed when the vehicle reportedly suffered brake failure and veered off its lane.
According to LASTMA’s Director of Public Affairs and Enlightenment, Adebayo Taofiq, the truck lost control near Eleko Junction and rammed into the Toyota car heading from Ajah towards Epe.
“The impact caused the truck to topple onto the smaller vehicle, trapping the driver inside the wreckage,” Taofiq said.
He explained that personnel of LASTMA and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), with the assistance of bystanders, rescued the victims from the crushed vehicle. However, the driver was pronounced dead at the scene, while his wife sustained life-threatening injuries and was rushed for urgent medical attention.
The remains of the deceased and the injured passenger were later evacuated by an FRSC ambulance.
Taofiq added that the truck driver fled the scene immediately after the crash.
Operatives of the Akodo Police Division provided security at the scene during the rescue and recovery operations.
The General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, commiserated with the bereaved family and wished the injured woman a speedy recovery, while reiterating the agency’s commitment to enforcing traffic laws, particularly against reckless driving and poor vehicle maintenance.
Meanwhile, a tanker loaded with 33,000 litres of fuel caught fire around Ile-Zik, inward Magboro, along the Lagos–Abeokuta Expressway.
Taofiq said the LASTMA Rescue Team, in collaboration with the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, successfully contained the blaze before it escalated.
To facilitate emergency operations, traffic was diverted into the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor. The affected section of the road was reopened after firefighting and recovery efforts were completed.
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