One person has been confirmed dead, others injured, and properties destroyed after a truck reportedly suffered brake failure and crashed into the busy Isheri Market in OPIC bus stop along Lagos-Ibadan expressway, on Wednesday morning.
According to a motorcyclist who witnessed the incident, the truck was approaching the OPIC area when the driver lost control due to brake failure.
“While I was at OPIC bus stop roundabout, a container coming from Lagos reached OPIC bus stop. When he was coming, there was no traffic on the express, he didn’t have brakes when he tried to enter the estate, he then crashed into the market and killed a person,” the motorcyclists.
When asked if the truck driver was running from anyone, the eyewitness said, “No one was chasing him, it’s only him that was coming.”
The truck reportedly attempted to avoid crashing into the estate gate by swerving to the right, but in doing so, it plowed through market stalls, injuring unsuspecting victims and destroying goods and structures in its path.
The only confirmed fatality was a local tea vendor who was serving his usual customers when the accident occurred.
One of the injured victims, a night security guard at the market, shared his account of the moment the truck crashed.
“I’m the security man of this place. Every morning, I sit with my people before they open for the day because I work at night.
“I had just called the tea seller to give me tea, and I had only tasted it once when I heard loud noises. I stood up, and the truck pushed me and I fell.
“It’s God that saved me that I fell to the right side, assuming I followed the other side I would have died. The man who gives me tea is the one who died.”
The total number of injured persons is yet to be confirmed.
Bystanders credited two parked vehicles, a van and a Sienna, with reducing the impact of the crash. The vehicles were stationed in front of the market and are believed to have slowed the truck down, thereby preventing more fatalities.
Emergency responders and local authorities remain at the scene, working to clear the wreckage and assess the extent of the damage.
The truck driver has been arrested and is currently in the custody of the Isheri Tactical Unit as investigations continue.
