A man lost his life on Thursday morning and his wife was left in critical condition after a truck loaded with granite overturned onto their Toyota saloon car at Eleko Junction on the Lekki–Ajah Expressway in Lagos State.
The incident was disclosed in a statement issued by the Director of the Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of LASTMA, Adebayo Taofiq.
“Preliminary security briefings reveal that an articulated truck, heavily burdened with granite and travelling at an inordinate speed from the Epe axis, was approaching Eleko Junction when it reportedly experienced a catastrophic brake malfunction.
“The mechanical failure precipitated an abrupt loss of vehicular control, causing the truck to career off its designated path and collide forcefully with a Toyota saloon car travelling from Ajah inward Epe,” the statement partly read.
According to LASTMA, the force of the crash caused the truck to overturn onto the smaller vehicle, pinning the driver inside the wreckage.
Personnel from LASTMA and the Federal Road Safety Corps, assisted by passersby, managed to pull the victims from the vehicle. However, the driver was pronounced dead at the scene, while his wife suffered severe injuries and was taken to hospital for emergency treatment.
The agency noted that the truck driver fled immediately after the accident, while officers from the Akodo Police Division secured the area during the rescue efforts.
LASTMA General Manager, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, described the crash as preventable. He advised motorists and truck operators to prioritise proper vehicle maintenance and cautioned against reckless driving.
