Refuse truck falls off Lagos bridge, kills tricycle rider

A yet-to-be-identified tricycle rider has been crushed to death after the compactor of a refuse truck fell from a bridge in the Surulere area of Lagos State.

According Metro learnt that the incident happened on Tuesday evening.

The truck, owned by the Lagos Waste Management Authority, was said to be plying the Shitta bridge in the community when it developed a mechanical fault while in motion.

As a result, the truck lost control and crashed into a Kia Salon car on the bridge.

The impact of the crash was however said to have caused the compactor of the truck to detach and fall on a mini-commercial bus and the tricycle on the ground floor.

Our correspondent gathered that passengers numbering about seven in the bus survived the crash while the tricycle rider died on the spot.

While confirming the incident, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency said its response team arrived at the scene around 10:20 pm after receiving a distress call.

The Permanent Secretary of the agency, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, in a statement on Wednesday, said, “It was observed that a LAWMA PSP compactor truck was involved in a multiple accident when it reportedly suffered mechanical error (disengaged propeller), lost control and crashed into a Kia Rio Saloon car, registration number unknown, on Shitta bridge.

“Further information gathered at the incident scene was that the compactor thereafter crashed down the side of the bridge onto a seven-passenger mini-bus (korope) and a tricycle (Keke Marwa), killing the tricyclist instantly on impact.”

The LASEMA boss added that the remains of the deceased were recovered from the incident scene and taken to the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba for further processing.

According to him, all three vehicles involved in the multiple accidents were moved to the Iponri Police Station, while the LAWMA PSP compactor truck was taken to the agency’s yard at Ijora with the aid of its Heavy Duty Equipment (Elephant) at midnight.

“In attendance at the incident scene were the LASEMA Response Team, LASAMBUS, LASTMA, Divisional Police Officer, DPO of Surulere Divisional Office and Officers of the NPF from Iponri Police Station,” he added.