One of the passengers on the yellow bus involved in an accident around 11:45 am on Lagos’ Third Mainland Bridge on Wednesday has narrated her experience.

The victim, who wished to be identified as Aproko Nurse, told FIJ that he boarded the bus on Allen Avenue, Ikeja, and it was en route to Lagos Island when the accident occurred.

“I heard a loud sound, and the bus tumbled. So, I thought the bus had entered the ocean and was already sinking. It wasn’t until I looked around and saw that there was no water in the bus that I discovered none of such had happened,” he told FIJ.

He added that he and other passengers were distraught because there was no other way for them to come out of the bus except the window.

“We were scared, struggling and trying to escape the bus through the window. We were jumping out of the window because that was the only way out. When I jumped out, I noticed the bus had hit the iron rods demarcating the bridge and the ocean,” Aproko Nurse said.

During the accident, a yet-to-be-identified man fell into the ocean below the bridge, said the survivor.

“We saw that one of the passengers had fallen into the ocean and was struggling to stay afloat. There was a canoe on the ocean, and we signalled to the person paddling it that someone was in there. But it was slow and could not get to him on time. I think he has gone deep into the ocean,” he added.

He also told FIJ that many of the passengers on the bus sustained injuries and there was no ambulance in sight until he left.

“I was there for about an hour, and there was no ambulance. It was the driver of another bus who volunteered to drive us to a general hospital for treatment,” he said.

Third Mainland Bridge, which had been partially closed to traffic for seven weeks, was reopened on Thursday. Ahead of the reopening, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) warned motorists to maintain speed limits on the newly renovated road.