Fatimah Otunsanya
A motorist was killed on Thursday morning while his wife was critically injured after a granite-laden truck toppled onto their Toyota saloon car at Eleko Junction along the Lekki–Ajah Expressway, Lagos State.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of LASTMA, Adebayo Taofiq.
“Preliminary security briefings reveal that an articulated truck, heavily burdened with granite and travelling at an inordinate speed from the Epe axis, was approaching Eleko Junction when it reportedly experienced a catastrophic brake malfunction.
“The mechanical failure precipitated an abrupt loss of vehicular control, causing the truck to career off its designated path and collide forcefully with a Toyota saloon car travelling from Ajah inward Epe,” the statement partly read.
LASTMA said the impact caused the truck to overturn and crush the smaller vehicle, trapping the driver inside the wreckage.
Officials of the agency and the Federal Road Safety Corps, with the help of bystanders, reportedly rescued the victims, but the man was confirmed dead at the scene, while his wife sustained life-threatening injuries and was rushed for urgent medical attention.
The agency said the truck driver fled the scene immediately after the crash, while operatives of the Akodo Police Division provided security during the rescue operation.
The General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, described the incident as avoidable, urged motorists and truck drivers to ensure proper vehicle maintenance, and warned against reckless driving.