Switching bus seats saved my life – Lagos train crash survivor
A survivor of Thursday’s crash involving a train and a bus carrying staff of Lagos State government has narrated how leaving her favourite corner to seat with another colleague saved her life.
“Where I normally seat in the bus” she narrated, “was the point the train rammed into.”
Meanwhile, the driver of the Lagos State government staff bus, Oluwaseun Osinbajo, has begged for forgiveness, blaming the accident on a mechanical fault in the bus.
However, survivors said he had his earpiece on while driving and ignored the signalman at the rail line.
He’s undergone several tests, including psychiatric, and authorities have said he will be prosecuted.
‘How I survived’
“My survival a miracle,” the the civil servant, who wished to remain unnamed, said.
“I would have been one of those in the morgue.
“I boarded the bus at Ikotun and sat on the middle row, close to the window, a position that had become my permanent seat.
“But on that fateful day, a friend (names withheld) invited me to come sit with her on the third row in front.
“She said the person she reserved the seat for called to say she won’t be joining the staff bus.
“That was how I left my permanent seat, which happened to be the exact place the train hit.
“Any time I remember that, I would quickly dismiss the thought of death with a shrug.
“This can only be God and I am grateful.”