Three die, two injured as truck head detaches in motion

THREE persons, including the driver, on Tuesday evening died when the head of a truck conveying them, detached from its body while in motion and tumbled many times over before it rested on a side of the road.

It was learnt that the deceased were trapped in the mangled head of the truck while two other persons also sustained grave injuries in the process.

The accident which occurred at the Akinhale village corridor of the Lagos – Abeokuta expressway, involved an Iveco truck marked AAA 912 XK.

Operatives of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were sighted at the scene working to evacuate both the

survivors and the dead.

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of TRACE, Babatunde Akinbiyi, said it was a lone accident that occurred when the head of a truck came off.

Akinbiyi said: “We learnt it was a lone accident. The trailer driver was on top speed when suddenly the driver lost control and the body (trailer) detached from the head as a result of not being properly hooked and veered into the bush. Among the three dead, was also the driver of the trailer.”

The truck has been taken to Ewekoro Divisional Police Station while bodies of the victims have been deposited at Ifo General Hospital morgue.

“TRACE Corps is again using this opportunity to admonish articulated drivers to avoid excessive speed, especially at bends and corners because of its attendant consequences.”

It would be recalled that at the weekend, two persons died in two separate accidents that occurred in different parts of Ogun State. The accidents were caused by two different trucks and led to the death of the driver of a maize-loaded commercial bus and a commercial motorcycle rider, popularly called Okada.

According to TRACE Public Relations Officer in the state, Akinbiyi, the commercial bus driver lost his life on Ijebu-ode/oru/ago- Iwoye road, when a Dangote truck with Reg No BGW 161 XA rammed into the commercial bus with Reg No RBC 494 XA, killing the driver instantly.

Akinbiyi also said the motorcyclist met his untimely death when a loaded fuel tanker suffered a brake failure and hit the Okada man at Joju on Lagos/abeokuta Road.