Three persons riding on two commercial motorcycles (Okada) have been crushed to death in an accident involving a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) vehicle at the Alakija area of Lagos.
The victims, according to eyewitnesses, had a head-on collision with the BRT vehicle heading to Okomaiko in the Ojo area of the State, from the Mile 2 axis.
According to reports, they were on their way home after a football match at Navy Town, Ojo, when their motorcycles rammed into the bus.
The accident triggered outrage from the youths, who had besieged the BRT vehicle threatening to set it ablaze.
It took the intervention of policemen from FESTAC police station, led by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Gboyega Balogun, to calm already frayed nerves.
The body of one of the motorcyclists was taken away by its relatives, while two others were reportedly carried away by the police team.
Eyewitness said the BRT driver was rescued by the police from the mob lynching him.
The officers took both the BRT driver and his bus to the station.
The Lagos State government has banned riding of motorcycle on the BRT lane from Okokomaiko to Mile 2 with the commencement of BRT bus operations on the route.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident on Thursday evening.
According to Hundeyin, the auto crash occurred at about 5.40pm on Thursday.
He said the crash involved a BRT Mercedes Benz bus with registration number BRI 043 belonging to the State and driven by one Olubor Oluwasegun.
He said the driver was driving along Mile 2 BRT lane heading to Iyana Iba, adding that it ran over a motorcycle at Alakija.
“The rider (motorcycle) was riding against traffic with two passengers identified as Waidi Kadiri Momoh, 23, and Enegide Azuka, 20. It also involved one other identified as Divine Omosowo. As a result of the accident, four persons sustained injuries.
“Three died on the spot while Omosowo was rushed to a nearby hospital for medical attention. Two corpses were deposited at the Mainland General Hospital mortuary, Yaba,” he said.