Younger brother of a commercial bus driver who lost his life at Ojuelegba on Tuesday, Mr Ahmed Fatai, has revealed the final hours of his brother, New Telegraph reports.
The grieving Ahmed noted that the man died four hours after changing his vehicle’s gearbox. He said: “My brother’s wife, who gave birth recently, fainted immediately she heard about the death of her husband.”
Ahmed explained that Rasaq was at a mechanic workshop, at Lawson, to fix his vehicle’s gearbox before the incident occurred. He said that he left the workshop about 4p.m.
Ahmed explained that Rasaq was inside his bus, under the bridge, along with his conductor and a member of a Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), relaxing, when the container fell on his bus about 8p.m.
When our correspondent visited the scene yesterday, some colleagues of the deceased were discussing Rasaq’s death.
Ahmed said: “He was not just my brother, he was also a friend. He was the breadwinner of our family.
"I was at Mile 2 when someone called about 10p.m. and asked me to rush down to Ojuelegba that my brother, whose nickname was Aro, had died. I left what I was doing and ran to the area, only to see my brother’s mutilated body. I couldn’t hold myself. I wept profusely until about 12a.m. His mangled remains and those of two others were pulled out of the bus by the officials of the Lagos State Accident and Emergency Management Authority and moved to Military Hospital, Yaba, where they were embalmed.
“Our father is also grieving. Since Tuesday, our father has not eaten any food. We are appealing to the Lagos State government to come to our aid and assist the family he left behind to take care of their education and other needs.”
The Commissioner for Transport, Mr. Ladi Lawson, said: “We are here on the directives of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode. We are here to have on-the-spot-assessment. We rushed down here after we heard about the unfortunate incident, where a container carrying goods fell and killed three people, leaving several people injured.
“We sympathise with the families of the deceased and it is most regrettable. We understood that the rail that was supposed to prevent accident on the bridge had been damaged. We’re collaborating with the Minister of Works, Nigeria Port Authority (NPA), the police and Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA).
“We’re going to direct traffic away from the bridge and for a long term, we are going to ensure that they complied with the law and tightening their containers; whoever floats the law would be severely be punished.
“I’m directing the Chief Executive Officer of LASTMA, Mr. Chris Olakpe, to put truck barriers on the bridge from both ends and deploy LASTMA officials. Policemen will also assist them in the enforce-"