Several people are feared dead after a truck fell off a bridge in Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre, Lagos, into Epe River in the state.
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) on Saturday said that the incident happened on the Berger Bridge in the Epe Area of the state on Friday night.
The truck, a six-tyre Volvo Tipper, was said to be carrying sand at the time of the incident.
As of press time, the number of people in the truck at the time of the incident remains unknown.
Head, Public Affairs of LASEMA, Nosa Okunbor, said search and rescue operations are ongoing.
He said, “Upon arrival at the scene of the incident, it was discovered that a six-tyre truck loaded with sand fell into the river.
“The number of people in the truck can’t be ascertained at present.
“Since the early hours of today, a combined team of agency responders, Marine Rescue Unit, Nigeria Police and local divers are carrying out search and rescue operations.
“No deaths or casualties confirmed yet.”
It would be recalled that a similar incident occurred in Nigeria’s Ebonyi State last week when a bus carriung about 30 mourners fell off a bridge into a River.
The victims of the Ebonyi incident were said to be all members of a church and were returning from the burial of their pastor.
Authorities in the country said about 17 corpses were later recovered from the River.
The driver of the ill-fated bus was said to have attempted to overtake a trailer just before the bridge in the area but lost control of the vehicle and veered off into the river with the vehicle and its occupants submerged immediately.
Five persons were at the time rescued in critical conditions and rushed to the hospital for treatment. A woman, who was among those rescued alive, later died during treatment.