Maha Christopher
A driver lost his life in the early hours of Saturday after a Honda Pilot Sports Utility Vehicle crashed and somersaulted multiple times along the Oshodi Apapa Expressway in Lagos State.
According to The Punch, the fatal lone accident occurred at Charity Bus Stop inward Iyana Isolo.
The Director of Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Adebayo Taofiq, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.
Taofiq said the driver died instantly after the vehicle reportedly lost control and overturned several times before coming to a stop.
“Preliminary findings indicate that the Honda Pilot Sports Utility Vehicle involved in the incident suddenly lost control, causing it to overturn multiple times before coming to a devastating halt.
“The sheer magnitude of the impact led to the instantaneous death of the driver, whose body became trapped within the severely mangled remains of the vehicle,” the statement read.
According to him, LASTMA officials who were monitoring traffic around the Iyana Isolo area responded swiftly to the scene and worked with officers of the Mosafejo Police Division to recover the body and manage traffic.
“Demonstrating exceptional bravery and professionalism, the officers, working in concert with personnel from the Mosafejo Police Division, painstakingly extricated the deceased from the wreckage while simultaneously maintaining effective traffic control and preventing secondary collisions,” Taofiq added.
He said officials of the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit later evacuated the remains of the deceased to a public mortuary, while the damaged vehicle was handed over to the police for further investigation.
Reacting to the incident, the General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare Oki, commiserated with the family of the deceased and urged motorists to drive responsibly.
He warned against reckless driving, speeding, dangerous overtaking, and other traffic violations that could lead to avoidable accidents.
“The sanctity and preservation of human life must remain paramount in the conduct of every road user. No journey is so urgent as to justify compromising safety,” Bakare Oki said.
The incident comes a day after three persons were reportedly burnt to death following a crash involving a commercial bus on the Lagos Abeokuta Expressway. Authorities attributed that accident to excessive speed and loss of control.
