900 ESCAPE DEATH IN LAGOS TRAIN ACCIDENT

 About nine hundred passengers narrowly escaped death yesterday morning when a 10-coach Iddo-bound train rammed into a truck at Ilupeju Railway Crossing near Oshodi, Lagos.

The accident occurred at about 7.30 am and led to traffic gridlock on the Ilupeju/Oshodi Road for several hours. An eye witness said that the articulated vehicle blocked the railway crossing when the train was already close by.

The loaded trailer had crashed into the double barriers on the railway crossing shortly before the train arrived.

On seeing the approaching train, the driver jumped out of the trailer and ran away. The train then dragged the truck for some distance, scattering the goods inside it — which were mostly empty cartons of Malta Guinness drink along the track leading to the damage of some vehicles parked along the rail track by motor mechanics.

Thankfully, no life was lost. This is the third time in August that passenger trains have rammed into vehicles at railway crossings in the Lagos.