If not for providence, some passengers would have become casualties of the menace usually constituted by container-bearing long vehicles on Lagos roads, penultimate Sunday.
The passengers commuting in two mini shuttle buses in the Amukoko area of Lagos narrowly escaped death, when a truck conveying a 20-feet container suddenly fell on its side, pushing the two buses to the walkway!
The driver of the M.A.N Diesel vehicle was on a high speed and could not immediately apply the brakes as he neared the Amukoko Roundabout. While negotiating a bend, the articulated vehicle tottered and fell, roughly pushing the small buses conveying the passengers to the walkway.
The windscreen of the M.A.N Diesel trailer was shattered while some parts of the bodies of the affected buses were badly dented.
One of the survivors of the accident, Bisi Kalejaiye, who is heavily pregnant, said it was by divine intervention that the passengers escaped being crushed inside the small buses.
“I thank God. It’s not my time to die. If not, we saw death coming but could not run away from its reach. God performed a miracle in our lives by saving us. I was in this small bus with my little child. You know I’m pregnant and could not run. All we heard was people shouting, but before I would turn to look at my left side, the vehicle just fell, pushing us to the right hand side. It damaged the two buses. I was even close to the window as it fell. I thank God because it would have fallen on our heads. We were four passengers inside the bus, with my daughter, making five. I was going to Mosafejo. I decided to board a bus instead of a motorcycle,” Kalejaiye
said.
One of the drivers at the scene of the accident, who simply identified himself as Femi said, “The owner of the big vehicle must compensate our driver before we would allow him to carry his vehicle away. He was over-speeding; that was why the accident occurred. It was God that saved us. This is our park. The vehicle nearly fell on top of us and our passengers. We thank God for what He has done for us. The vehicle was carrying a heavy load and that was why it bent and fell. I was watching the vehicle as it fell. I screamed, but there was nothing anybody could do about it. One of our drivers, who saw that the vehicle was about to fall took to his heels. It was God that saved the passengers because the vehicle almost fell on their head.”
Another passenger, who identified herself as Mama Dorothy, explained that “there was no time to escape. So, we waited for the will of God. I only opened my mouth wide, waiting for death to come. I could not run. It was as If I was pinned down to the seat. As the vehicle fell on our bus, I almost collapsed myself. I thank God we are alive to tell the story. So, that’s how I would have died and abandoned my small children. God, I don’t know how to thank you for saving our lives. You are a great God! I was even returning from church where I went to worship. I wanted to return to where we are living at Mosafejo area. I was the fourth person to enter the bus. Immediately the fifth passenger entered, the truck fell.”
Matthew Dike, Ajegunle, Lagos
