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By Kate Halim And Funke Busari
At the surgical emergency unit of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, some family members of survivors of Thursday’s train and bus crash were anxious to see their relatives.
Sitting outside the emergency ward and waiting to be ushered in to see their relatives admitted in the unit, these men and women conversed in low tones as they recalled how they heard the news of the accident.
One of the relatives of the survivors named Rahman told Saturday Sun that his brother survived the accident. He said he was waiting outside the emergency ward to go in and see how the brother was doing.
The long wait was worth it when he found out that the CPR certified doctors did their best to save Rahman’s brother, who had several injuries from the accident.
He said: “My elder brother was inside the bus that was crushed by a train. I am grateful that he is alive. When I first heard the news, I broke down in tears but when I got here and saw my brother alive, I didn’t mind the wounds on his body. I am grateful that he can talk and move his body. I asked Allah to forgive the dead and heal the ones still critical.”
The young man added: “The medical staff of LASUTH did well. They handled the emergency perfectly. I’ve been here since yesterday and I met about 100 medical staff present treating the survivors of the crash. I also learned that they called for more doctors from other hospitals just to make sure that the survivors were all attended to. My brother did six different tests after he was brought here.”
Another relative, Mrs Janet Adigun who spoke to Saturday Sun revealed that her sister who was a staff of Lagos State University Teaching hospital died in the accident.
Adigun said: ”My sister is dead, she was among the victims. Her children called me yesterday night that they have been here and that hospital staff asked them to call someone older than them to come to the hospital. That is why I followed them here. I am waiting for the hospital staff to attend to us. There’s nothing I can do for my sister now. I feel so sad.”
The elderly woman said even though she is not happy that her sister died, she wonders why the hospital staff didn’t allow her go into the emergency ward to find out about her sister and how the family could handle her funeral arrangements.
A woman whose husband survived the crash was seen querying the security man at the entrance of the emergency ward. Looking distraught, the woman who identified herself as Mrs Fagbola lamented how the hospital staff made family members of the survivors wait for a long time outside the emergency unit.
Fagbola stated that she was informed about the accident through her child who got the news on social media. She quoted her child as saying when informing her of the incident, “I think my father is there. I think my father was in the bus that was hit by a train. Mummy, you have to go and find out. My father is among the passengers.”
Speaking in Yoruba language and fighting hard to hold back tears, the mother of four revealed that her husband had a head injury and was talking incoherently when she spoke to him on Thursday evening. She added that she is sacred about his health because he had been a victim of an accident some years back and it took him a while to get better.
“That accident affected one of his legs. Now, he has suffered another injury on his other leg. I don’t know why this is happening to us but it is not fair. Now, his two legs have been affected by accidents. When I saw him, both his legs were heavily bandaged. He had bandage on his head too. I am happy that he recognized me as his wife but some of the things he said to me didn’t make sense. I pray to God that he will get better soon”, she said.
Inside the emergency ward where the survivors were receiving treatment, the mother of a young man who had his head and left arm bandaged, commended the doctors and nurses who attended to the survivors.
In her fifties, Mrs Abayomi said she was grateful with the way the medical staff handled the survivors. She added that if it was not for the swift response of the medical team, the casualty figures would have been more.
“Look at my son, he can’t talk. When you talk to him, he blinks his eyes or nods his head gently. I brought him food today but I don’t know if he can eat it because of the injury on his head. I am grateful to God for sparing his life and I also thank the hospital staff for taking care of him.”
The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said that 32 survivors of the train and bus accident have been discharged from different hospitals in the state. Abayomi said this during a press conference on Friday in Lagos while giving an update on the accident.
The commissioner said that the accident recorded 102 casualties including six fatalities. According to him, all the patients are presently in stable medical condition.
He said that 19 survivors of the accident were discharged from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH); five from the Toll Gate Trauma Centre and eight from Orile-Agege General Hospital.
He added that all the victims with varying degrees of injuries life threatening conditions were admitted and treated at LASUTH.
“25 patients with moderate injuries were later referred to five general hospitals in Lagos for further treatment and to decongest LASUTH. People donated 256 voluntary units of blood and 40 units were transfused yesterday,” Abayomi said.
He commended the blood donors, saying that it would assist to replenish the state’s blood bank.
Abayomi, however, noted that based on existing policy, medical bills of all patients treated as a result of the incident would be covered by the state government.
He commended the staff of LASUTH and other health workers for their prompt response to the accident victims.
Abayomi pointed out that the medical personnel who created triage emergency tents within LASUTH assisted to save lives, speed up injury level profiling and support immediate critical action.
He stated that the accident which occurred at about 7:30 a.m on Thursday was a collusion of a moving train and a modern transport conveying staff of Lagos State Secretariat. He said the train carried the bus as far as 100 metres, causing severe damage to passengers, and possibly affected those who are outside the bus in the area.
He said prompt rescue operation commenced as soon as Lagos State Emergency Management Authority, LASEMA arrived at 7:45 a.m to secure the environment and started to conduct rescue operations with other emergency responders.
“One hundred and two passengers were said to be on the bus, out of which six were confirmed dead, two on the spot and four at the LASUTH. The LASUTH management was able to set up a second level of triage.”
Earlier, the commissioner said the first level of triage occurred when LASUTH started receiving the affected passengers as early as 8.10 am.
The commissioner explained, “It is important that we carry out in the open air to scan all casualties and separate them quickly for immediate attention in a manner that will save the survivors.”
