NEWS UPDATE

Three women have been killed and 10 others injured after a vehicle plunged from the Long Bridge on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and landed in a ditch.

The crash occurred around 5:24pm on Friday near Mikano, on the Long Bridge section of the expressway, inward Lagos.

Spokesperson for the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE), Babatunde Akinbiyi, disclosed the incident in a statement.

According to him, three vehicles were involved in the crash: a Toyota bus, a Toyota Corolla and a Mazda bus.

Akinbiyi said 16 people were involved in the accident, comprising 12 males and four females. Ten people, including nine males and one female, sustained injuries, while three female adults died.

He said preliminary eyewitness accounts linked the crash to excessive speeding and loss of control, which caused the vehicle to somersault before landing in the ditch.

Rescue operations were carried out by personnel from TRACE, the Federal Road Safety Corps, the police and the Ogun State Ambulance and Emergency Service.

Six injured passengers were evacuated to the Lagos State Accident and Emergency Service by the state ambulance team, while another injured victim and a presumed dead passenger were taken away by an FRSC ambulance.

Two of the deceased were deposited at the General Hospital, Ifo, morgue, while another presumed dead victim was taken to the Idera Hospital morgue in Sagamu.

Other injured victims were transported to A.Z. Hospital for medical treatment.

Akinbiyi said the vehicle that plunged into the ditch was subsequently recovered and moved to Warewa Police Station along with the other vehicles involved in the crash for further investigation.

The accident temporarily disrupted traffic on the expressway during the rescue and recovery operation, but normal traffic flow was later restored.