The identity of the driver of the Lagos State Government Staff Bus involved in a crash with a train at the PWD area of the state has been unveiled. The fatal train accident killed six people and injured 96 in the PWD area of Lagos state on Thursday.
According to Vanguard News, the name of the driver, said to be 44 years old, is Oluwaseun Osinbajo.
The driver, who was initially on admission at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, works with the Lagos State Ministry of Transport.
Osinbajo was said to have been transferred to the Lagos State Police Command Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Department on Friday.
Vanguard News quoted him as having said to some of his relatives at the SCID: “It was not my fault.
“How could I have ignored warning signs?
“The bus had a mechanical fault.
“It is a pity this has happened.
“I beg everyone affected to please forgive me in the name of God.”
This is however at variance with the account of one of the survivors of the accident between a moving train and the Lagos State government Staff bus, at the Shogunle area of Ikeja, Lagos, on Thursday, March 9.
The survivor identified as Titilayo, revealed that they begged the driver of the bus to wait for the train to pass, but he refused. Speaking to journalists, she said;
“The incident happened around 7.15am. When we got to the intersection at PWD in Ikeja, the driver continued driving. Passengers inside the bus, including myself, begged him to wait for the train to pass before crossing, but he didn’t listen.”
“Midway, just before he could finish crossing the rail tracks, the accident happened. Many of us were rushed here, while five others were taken to Gbagada General Hospital.”
Also, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency and the Nigerian Railway Corporation have both blamed the driver of the Lagos State Government staff bus for the fatal train accident which killed six people and injured 96 in the PWD area of the state on Thursday.
The Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, told journalists that the bus driver ignored signals from the NRC officials as he was in a hurry to cross the rail.
The NRC, also in a statement by its Deputy Director Public Relations, Yakub Mahmood, said the bus failed to obey the instruction of the corporation officials as he overtook other vehicles waiting for the train to pass.
