A level crossing keeper with the NRC, who refused to give his name for security reasons but claimed to have been on duty at the time of the crash, told Saturday PUNCH that he flagged the BRT driver conveying the government workers to stop more than five times but he refused to do so.

He said, “I kept waving the red flag, whistling and shouting, asking the BRT driver not to make the move to cross as a train was oncoming at high speed but he refused to hear me. Now, see what has happened.

“Nobody will blame me for not doing my job. If they call me anywhere to defend myself, I will. I make sure to arrive here very early in the morning for my shift but some of these drivers do not listen.”

The flagman added that some drivers who used the level crossing could be very impatient, noting that if he flagged them down, they would cuss at him and still pass.

“One day, one of them even spat at me because I flagged him down to save his life. You won’t believe that particular driver still drove past the crossing despite the warning.

“I am just angry the BRT driver had passengers. If it was just him, I wouldn’t be this pained,” he added.

On whether the driver had earphones, the flagman said, “No matter the earphone someone has on if a train is coming, the ground vibrates. Everyone knows. Why did he try to run when the accident occurred, leaving the passengers he was carrying to die in the vehicle? Why?”

The Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Adebayo Taofiq, told Saturday PUNCH that the bus was fully loaded with members of staff of the state government, adding that the driver was not patient enough.

He said, “One cannot easily calculate the number of staff members on the bus; it is the same as BRT. Some were standing because it was a fully-loaded bus. The driver was supposed to have waited for the train because he still had time. It wasn’t 8am yet, so why the rush?

“The train dragged the bus to an extent. While some people were fast to have jumped out of the bus, some were trapped.”

Officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, National Emergency Management Agency and Federal and State Fire Service, among others, were seen at the scene when Saturday PUNCH arrived.

A resident, Michael Ogodo, commending the team of rescuers said it didn’t take first responders much time to show up at the scene.

He said, “If the emergency officials didn’t come on time as they did today, the casualties would have been more.

“Many persons were bleeding from their heads, mouths and nostrils at the same time. I even saw a young boy struggling to stand up. He was covered in blood. It was the scariest thing I had ever seen.”

Credit: Punch