Panic erupted on Saturday morning in Maryland, Lagos State, when a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) vehicle caught fire, prompting the driver and conductor to abandon the passengers and flee.
According to our correspondent who witnessed the incident, the BRT bus was traveling from Ikorodu towards CMS when the fire broke out.
Emergency services, including the Nigeria Police Force, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), fire services, and local security personnel, were swiftly on the scene to manage the situation and extinguish the blaze by the time this report was compiled.
A passenger recounted that the fire began as smoke emanating from the driver’s area of the bus. Initially, passengers believed the smoke was coming from nearby vehicles. However, the light smoke quickly intensified, triggering widespread panic among those on board.
“As soon as we saw that the smoke grew bigger, we immediately rushed off the bus before the fire ignited,” the passenger stated, thankfully confirming that no injuries were sustained by anyone on board.
She further alleged that the driver and conductor immediately fled the scene as the fire started, failing to offer any assistance or wait for the passengers’ safety. “The driver and the conductor ran away. They didn’t even wait to see what would happen to us,” she said. “Definitely, they knew what happened. They knew the bus was bad before putting it on the road and risking our lives.”
