FG set to release report on Lagos train accident
The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has said it would release its report on the Lagos train-bus accident, which occurred in the Ikeja area of the state early this month.
The bureau also agreed to deepen its relationship with the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on ways of enhancing safety in the rail and road sectors.
Speaking during a visit to the two organsiations in Lagos yesterday, Mr. Akin Olateru, the Director-General, NSIB, said that its investigators had begun investigation into the March 9 train and bus accident.
He said that its report, which would be made public, would also include safety recommendations to both parties on how a recurrence could be avoided in the future.
Olateru regretted the accident, which claimed 10 lives with colossal damage to the bus, but assured the Lagos State Government that its investigators would do a thorough job and come up with safety recommendations.
He said that NSIB has 45 well-trained professionals to investigate serious rail and maritime incidents and accidents.
“We have 45 well-trained investigators who are well-trained in the United States, Singapore Academy and others. So, we do what we do well. It takes time to carry out investigation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said 19 patients involved in the train-bus accident were currently receiving treatment at three state health facilities.
Abayomi said this in a situation update about the accident yesterday in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state between March 10 and 15 had discharged 66 patients involved in the accident from five state hospitals.
Abayomi said that 11 patients were discharged on March 22 after successful treatment, making it 77 patients that had been successfully treated and discharged from various hospitals.
He said 10 were discharged from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and one from General Hospital, Gbagada.
“Total number of patients on admission as of today, March 22 are 19.
“There are 16 patients at LASUTH, two at General Hospital Odan-Lagos and one at General Hospital, Gbagada.
“Total number of passengers discharged as of today is 77,” he said.
Abayomi disclosed that the fatality figure from the accident remains six which include two at the site of accident and four at LASUTH during resuscitation.
NAN reports that a Lagos State Government staff bus carrying civil servants from Isolo to Alausa had a collision with a train at PWD Bus-stop, along Agege Motor Road.
There were 85 passengers on board the bus and 17 persons associated with the accident.