WHEN I left my home at about 07:11 am, little did I know that I would be involved in an almost-fatal accident! Every day is a work day in Lagos and so I had to leave my home early so as to beat the usual traffic and arrive at my office on time.
These were the words of an eyewitness interviewed by a correspondent of Alimoshotoday after a commercial bus burst into flames along the LASU-Igando road in the early hours of today, Wednesday, February 15, 2023.
Narrating the unfortunate incident, the eyewitness said; "I boarded a 14-seater vehicle from Obadore heading to Egbeda. The bus was not full, but as we got to the Adexson bus stop, other commuters joined us, filling the bus to capacity. I just got off the phone with my brother, when I felt an unusual heat coming from the bus. I knew this could not be just any heat, it had to be something worse.
"Funnily enough, the bus conductor did not notice anything and was busy collecting his fare from the passengers. All of a sudden, we started seeing smoke coming from under the vehicle, and we knew that this was not just any smoke; the vehicle was on fire. The driver had to halt all of a sudden, but before the vehicle could park, those in front had started jumping out of the vehicle, calling out the blood of Jesus.
"I saw firsthand how much people valued their life over possession, as they left their bags containing phones and other items, to save their life first. On my part, I already had my bag in hand, so I simply jumped out of the vehicle.
"Lucky for us, we stopped in front of a car wash so the driver and his conductor were able to get water to put out the fire which started from the bonnet and was fast spreading. As we all waited to get over the shock, we all started laughing. Yes, it was funny to us, as we all reflected on how everyone had to leave their bags inside and run out of the vehicle.
"The conductor was able to put us all into other vehicles, and we continued our journey, though in different buses."
He also admonished drivers to always check the condition of their vehicles before setting out to pick up passengers.
"Dear drivers, be sure your vehicle is road-worthy before bringing it out on the road! We mustn't all die simply because you want to make a living!"
