This week starts with unpleasant news:, on April 3, 2023, around 8 a.m., a bus accident happened around Katangua Market, Abule-Egba. This is barely one month after a Lagos state staff bus collided with a moving train, killing two people on March 9, 2023,.
What happened?
Reports from eyewitnesses and passengers at the accident scene said the bus was on its way from Abeokuta. Then the driver started arguing with one of the passengers.
Unfortunately, the driver lost control, causing the vehicle to somersault and crash into a BRT fence and leaving many passengers injured.
What’s the government’s response?
Sadly, there has been no response or statement from the Lagos State Government Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) as of the time of writing this report. But not only that, accident victims could not get the timely services of an ambulance and were left at the mercy of bystanders.
Given the slow response of emergency services in Nigeria, we must have some basic knowledge of how to help accident victims:
- Flag down the area as an accident scene to prevent additional casualties.
- Turn off the ignition in cases where there’s oil spillage to prevent a fire hazard.
- Call these emergency numbers: 112 or 767.
- While accessing the casualty, support the head and neck of accident victims and keep talking to them.
- Don’t move unconscious people from the vehicle except their lives are in clear danger from fire, explosion or flood. Also, if the accident victim is lying on their back unconscious but breathing, they should be moved carefully with support to avoid twisting the spine.
- Conscious accident victims should be removed from the accident scene by bystanders.
Hopefully, as we go into the year’s second quarter, these accidents will be lesser and emergency services will develop a better response system.