Two persons were confirmed dead on Saturday when a Nissan Cabstar truck rammed over a group of street urchins, popularly called “area boys,” in Sango-Ota area on Lagos/Abeokuta Expressway.
The accident, which left seven others critically injured, occurred about 6:10a.m in front of the abandoned Gateway Hotel, Ota.
Mr Babatunde Akinbiyi, the Public Relations Officer, Ogun Traffic Compliance and Enforcement agency (TRACE), confirmed the report to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Akinbiyi said that two trucks, with registration number Lagos EKY 653 XB and Lagos KJA 113 XR, had earlier broken down in the area.
He said the brakes of one of the trucks failed while descending the slope of the old Sango Ota Toll Gate and crashed into the other truck, which had earlier broken down, causing serious obstruction on the highway.
He said the driver of the Nissan Cabstar was desperate to evade some policemen and also beat the commencement of the monthly environmental sanitation when it rammed into the area boys.
Akinbiyi explained that the street urchins had attempted to attack the injured driver of the truck that first broke down.
In the process, he said, the mishap occurred.
“Two of the area boys were killed on the spot, while seven others were critically injured, “he said.
The TRACE spokesman, however, said the vehicle speed off the scene immediately in a bid to escape arrest by security operatives.
He said the corpses of the deceased have been deposited at the morgue of the state General Hospital in Ifo, while the injured were receiving treatment at a private hospital in Ota. (NAN)