3 university’s students killed as truck loses control in Lagos

The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has said that brake failure was responsible for a fatal crash that claimed the lives of three students of the Lagos State University of Science and Technology on Saturday.

The tragic incident, which occurred at Powerline Junction inward Ikorodu Roundabout, reportedly involved multiple vehicles and left several others injured.

According to LASTMA spokesperson, Taofiq Adebayo, seven additional persons sustained varying degrees of injuries in the accident.

Adebayo explained that the collision occurred after the driver of a sand-laden tipper truck lost control when its brakes failed, ramming into other vehicles along the busy route.

“In an incident of profound tragedy that cast a pall of grief over the Ikorodu metropolis, three promising LASUST students — two males and one female — lost their lives instantaneously in a fatal multiple-vehicle collision at Powerline Junction, before Aleje, inward Ikorodu Roundabout,” he said.

He added that seven others, including tricycle riders, were seriously injured.

Adebayo noted that the crash involved “a tipper truck heavily laden with sand (unregistered), a Toyota Corolla (SMK 42 AJ), an MPV bus, and four tricycles.” He said preliminary investigations showed the truck, which was speeding excessively, suffered mechanical brake failure, leading to a loss of control and a chain collision that caused “devastating wreckage and loss of lives.”

He added that emergency teams from LASTMA, the Federal Road Safety Corps, and the police responded promptly, rescuing the injured and taking them to nearby hospitals. The remains of the three students were deposited at the Ikorodu General Hospital mortuary, while LASTMA officers cleared the debris to ease traffic flow.

The General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, extended condolences to the bereaved families and wished the injured a quick recovery.

He described the crash as preventable, citing reckless driving, speeding, and poor maintenance — particularly faulty braking systems — as persistent causes of fatal road accidents in Lagos.