Truck crushes car in Lagos, killing man, injuring wife

By Goli Innocent

A tragic accident on Thursday morning claimed the life of a motorist and left his wife critically injured after a granite-laden truck toppled onto their car at Eleko Junction along the Lekki–Ajah Expressway in Lagos.

The crash, which occurred during the early rush hour, involved an articulated truck travelling from the Epe axis and a Toyota saloon car heading inward Epe from Ajah.

In a statement issued by the Director of Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Adebayo Taofiq, preliminary findings pointed to brake failure and excessive speed as the likely causes of the incident.

“Preliminary security briefings reveal that an articulated truck, heavily burdened with granite and travelling at an inordinate speed from the Epe axis, was approaching Eleko Junction when it reportedly experienced a catastrophic brake malfunction,” the statement read.

“The mechanical failure precipitated an abrupt loss of vehicular control, causing the truck to career off its designated path and collide forcefully with a Toyota saloon car travelling from Ajah inward Epe.”

The impact was devastating. The truck overturned and crushed the smaller vehicle, trapping the driver in the mangled wreckage.

Officials of LASTMA, alongside operatives of the Federal Road Safety Corps and some bystanders, mounted a rescue operation to pull out the victims. However, the male driver was confirmed dead at the scene, while his wife sustained life-threatening injuries and was rushed to a medical facility for urgent treatment.

According to LASTMA, the truck driver fled immediately after the crash.

Operatives of the Akodo Police Division were said to have provided security at the scene while emergency responders worked to clear the wreckage and restore traffic flow on the busy expressway.

Reacting to the incident, the General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, described the crash as avoidable. He urged motorists, particularly truck drivers, to prioritise proper vehicle maintenance and shun reckless driving.

Thursday’s tragedy adds to the growing list of fatal accidents involving heavy-duty trucks on the Lekki–Epe corridor, raising fresh concerns about road safety enforcement and the mechanical condition of articulated vehicles plying Lagos roads.