Refuse compactor falls off Lagos bridge, crushes tricycle rider to death

The incident reportedly happened on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, when the truck was passing through the Shitta Bridge in the Surulere area of the state.

The truck was said to have lost control after it suddenly developed a fault, and crashed into a saloon car on the bridge. The crash then caused the refuse compactor to detach from the truck and fall off the bridge.

However, the refuse compactor landed on a tricycle and a minibus. And while the bus passengers survived the crash, the tricycle rider unfortunately died on the spot.

The Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu confirmed the incident in a statement on Wednesday. He said, "The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, received a distress call through the Toll-Free Emergency numbers 767/112, at 10:15 pm yesterday (Tuesday) night.

"The Agency activated the State’s Emergency Response Plans with Emergency Response Teams responding from Onipan, followed with necessary equipment from Cappa Base, the hub of LASEMA heavy-duty equipment in a 5-minute record time, at 10:20 pm.

“It was observed that a LAWMA PSP compactor truck was involved in a multiple accident when it reportedly suffered mechanical error (disengaged propeller), lost control and crashed into a Kia Rio Saloon car, registration number unknown, on Shitta Bridge.

“Further information gathered at the incident scene was that the compactor thereafter crashed down the side of the bridge onto a seven-passenger mini-bus (Korope) and a tricycle (Keke Marwa), killing the tri-cyclist instantly on impact."

Oke-Osanyintolu also added that the vehicles involved in the crash were moved to the Iponri Police Station, while the compactor truck was taken to the LAWMA yard at Ijora. He also confirmed that the deceased was taken to the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba.