Leading governorship candidates in Lagos State on Thursday visited victims of a train crash at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in the Ikeja area of the state.
The incumbent who is seeking reelection, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Labour Party (LP)’s Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour known as GRV and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s Olajide Adediran aka Jandor all visited the injured victims at the hospital.
They identified and sympathised with the injured persons who are receiving treatment in the hospital.
On Thursday morning, a moving train rammed into a bus conveying staff of the state government.
The unfortunate crash occurred at the PWD bus stop in the Ikeja area of the state on Thursday morning. Already, three persons have been confirmed dead by emergency responders, and over 82 persons injured and rushed to LASUTH in Ikeja.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika has since directed the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau experts to commence immediate investigation into the accident.
In a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Affairs, James Odaudu, the minister described the accident as unfortunate, and assured the public of the capacity of the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) to unravel the immediate and remote causes of the accident and proffer ways of preventing such in the future.
He solicited the cooperation of members of the public as investigation by the NSIB team commences.
He commiserated with the government and people of Lagos, especially those who have lost their loved ones, on the sad event, and prayed for the quick recovery of those injured in the accident.
Fatal cases of vehicle-train collision have resulted in casualties over the years. The last one was recorded in December 2022 when a passenger train from Kaduna to Abuja crushed a middle-aged woman to death on the rail track around the Kubwa area of the nation’s Federal Capital Territory. Stakeholders and safety experts have repeatedly called for preventive measures to stop the recurrence but not much can be said to have been done by the concerned authorities.
