Loose Tyres Kill Three, Wreck Car

Three men have allegedly lost their lives while one other sustained injuries when two tyres flew off a speeding articulated vehicle with registration number XP152AKD and hit them.

It was discovered that the victims, Awoyemi Lanre, Kabiru Okunola and the third identified simply as Lateef, were sitting in a garden located on the CMD end of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway when the incident happened.

The tyres were said to have hit a Nissan car with registration number FQ981 EKY, damaging its windscreen and door before hitting Okunola on the chest and head killing him on the spot.

An eyewitness, Dare Onanuga, who escaped harm by a whisker, said the four men affected were artisans who usually sat in the garden to relax.

He said, “Around 10am, about eight of us were sitting in the garden when I heard someone shouting "tyre, tyre!."

“We all attempted to run but the joined tyres were moving too fast. The tyres first of all damaged a Nissan car before moving in our direction."

“After the pandemonium, I saw four men lying down bleeding. Okunola was already dead but the others, were still alive so we rushed them to hospital.”

It was learnt that the two other victims, Lanre and Lateef, later died at the hospital, while Dele Ibrahim is responding to treatment.

It was also discovered that the truck driver and the occupants of the vehicle immediately took to their heels after the incident.

An eyewitness, who refused to identify himself, said the truck was problematic and he had warned the driver to stop and attend to the problem but he refused.

He said, “Around 9am, I was driving at Iyana-Oworo when I saw smoke emanating from the rim of the truck. I saw the driver and two other occupants in the vehicle and I advised them to park and attend to the problem.

“The driver said if he parked his car on the roadside, traffic officials would accost him so he continued driving it. The incident occurred less than 30 minutes later.”

When contacted, spokesperson for the state police command, Ngozi Braide, confirmed.

She said the driver of the articulated vehicle, Abdullahi Mumuni, had been arrested.

“The driver is being detained at Isheri Police Division,” Braide said.
Culled:Naij/Punchnigeria