An unidentified driver sustained serious injuries on Monday after his Suzuki vehicle rammed into a tanker at the Magboro end of the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway in Ogun State.
Metro correspondent who was at the scene gathered that the accident occurred when the driver, allegedly dozing off at high speed, collided with the rear of the tanker. The impact reportedly caused the smaller vehicle to become trapped under the tanker, which continued moving from the Arepo axis to Magboro without the tanker driver realising the collision had occurred.
An eyewitness, Obinna Igwe, told our correspondent that the victim sustained injuries in the incident. “God saved him. The tanker driver had no idea he was dragging the car behind him. We were shouting from Arepo, trying to alert him, but he was unaware. People kept signalling, but the car remained trapped under the tanker,” he said.
Another eyewitness, identified as Olumide, said residents suspected the Suzuki driver might have fallen asleep before the crash. “We really don’t know exactly what happened, but it seems the driver was sleeping. He was driving at top speed and didn’t notice the tanker in front of him, so he rammed into it. We had to stop the tanker with caution signs before rescuing the driver. Only the driver was inside the vehicle,” he explained.
Olumide added that the victim was seriously injured but conscious when pulled from the wreckage. He said officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps arrived shortly after being alerted by residents. “While we were trying to open the door to rescue the man, we sent people to call the road safety officers.”
“They came with their vehicle and rushed him to the emergency hospital,” he said.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the FRSC in Ogun State, Afolabi Odunsi, said he had not yet received a report of the incident at the time of filing this report. “I have not been briefed about the accident,” he said.