Guardian

ONLY the strong-willed could on Monday resist shedding tears or even take a second look at the body of a man who died when the rear tyres of a truck rolled backwards and crushed his  head to a pulp, killing him instantly.

An eyewitness told The Guardian he would never forget “how the body was twitching as blood was gushing out  of where his head was and which was now a mess of brain and bones.”

The unidentified man, a mate to the driver of the haulage truck with Registration Number XT 727 LSR was said to have been trying to place a wedge behind the tyres when they rolled over him.

The victim, according to eyewitnesses, was about 35 years old, and hailed from one of the northern states.

“The driver must have indicated that the brakes had failed and his mate jumped down from the truck in order to place a restraining wedge to slow down or stop the vehicle, which was on the NAHCO side of the International Airport Road,” the witness added.

The accident happened around 1.00p.m. and the body lay beneath the truck, the head crushed and trapped under the tyres till about 2.10p.m. when it was finally moved in a commercial vehicle with Registration Number XU 840 EKY to Ikeja General Hospital  mortuary

Efforts by The Guardian to speak with the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the Hajj Camp Police Station failed as he declined comments and ordered his men not to allow journalists access to the station, as the driver of the truck was by then in custody of the police.

An official with ADLAS Export, a haulage company and owners of the truck, who refused to reveal his identity, said he was short of words and would not comment on the accident.

The truck has since been towed off the road to avert a traffic jam.

The accident has further brought to the fore, the issue of roadworthiness of haulage vehicles, as lives are endangered as a result of inability or unwillingness of their owners to maintain them.