younger brother on Tuesday after the brakes of an overloaded trailer failed at the Ekoro junction, in the Abule Egba area of Lagos State.
The trailer driver was said to have lost control of the vehicle, which reportedly sped in the direction of a tricycle Ajayi and her brother boarded.
Ajayi was taking her brother to school around 7 am when the incident happened.
She reportedly pushed him out of the tricycle and out of harm’s way. She was attempting to save herself when the trailer ran into the tricycle, killing her.
It was learnt that the incident caused a traffic jam in the area as sympathisers placed the young lady’s corpse by the roadside.
Policemen from the Oke Odo division, officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority and Lagos State Emergency Management Agency got to the scene in good time.
The Punch observed the trailer being towed away by a crane belonging to the Lagos government.
The trailer, which tilted sideways, appeared to be loaded with plastics and some tarpaulin-shielded materials.
A witness, who did not want to be identified, said the trailer had first crushed a Tata bus before running into the tricycle.
He said, “The problem we have here is that the road slopes from Abule Egba to Ekoro Road. Around 7.15am, the trailer was coming from Abule Egba; it was supposed to turn towards Ile Epo, en route to Oshodi.
“However, when the vehicle’s brakes failed, the driver lost control and the trailer continued its downward journey. First, the trailer crushed a Tata bus and pushed it into a gutter. At this point, everybody started scurrying to safety. The passengers in the tricycle, where the lady was, also jumped out.
“The lady had sat by the entrance, while the boy sat on her laps. The place where she sat was on the trailer’s path. She quickly pushed her brother to the other side. As she moved to follow him, the trailer crushed her.”
The driver attempted to flee, but was nabbed by a mob which assaulted him before handing him over to the police.
A family friend of the victim, who lamented the death, said she had just finished her Ordinary National Diploma and just started her Higher National Diploma when tragedy struck.
“She was the first child of a family of six. Her father is distraught at the moment. Her mother is also devastated,” the family friend added.
A LASTMA official said that apart from the deceased, several others were injured in the accident.
The spokesperson for LASTMA, Mr. Mahmud Hassan, said, “Motorists must always check their vehicles before putting them on the road. The trailer affected had been overstretched with load and that was what triggered the accident.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the incident. She said the driver was in police custody while investigation had started into the crash
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