Passenger train crushes five to death in Lagos

At least five people were reportedly killed while scores were wounded when a passenger train coming from Ebute Metta, Lagos going to Sango Otta, Ogun State collided with a petrol tanker Monday night.

The incident, according to an eyewitness, occurred at about 8:30p.m at the Agege railway crossing when commuters were returning home from work.

This also caused heavy gridlock Monday night.

Hallmark was informed that the petrol tanker driver ignored the signals by the rail workers at the Pen Cinema railway junction when the train ran into the tanker and crushed some of the passengers hanging at the door of the train.

It was said that most of the people who sustained severe injuries were those hanging on the train.

A woman who was very close to the Cherubim and Seraphim Church in front of the accident scene told Hallmark that they were sitting outside the church when the train from the rail junction dragged the trailer to the front of the church behind the police station.

She said that hawkers along the rail line had to run for their lives when the incident occurred. She observed that no hawker sustained injury or was killed but the victims were those hanging on the train.

As at Tuesday morning there were sympathisers and on lookers at the scene of the incident. While some of them blamed the train driver, others claimed that it was the fault of the tanker driver who properly did not hear the honking of the train. Some said the tanker driver was ignorant and felt that the train would probably wait for him thinking it was like a vehicle that could apply its brake and squelch to a stop.

A policeman at Agege police station close to the scene of the accident confirmed the incident. He said though he could not give the accurate figure of those who died but from the reports they had about five people were said to have died on the spot while several people were said to have sustained various degrees of injuries

Meanwhile, railway police from Ebute Metta were said to have been deployed to the area of the incident to prevent hawkers from selling at the rail crossing.

OLUSESAN LAOYE