A container truck has crashed into a shop along Bai Bureh Road in Calaba Town on Thursday after a collision involving two trailers travelling from Central Freetown towards Waterloo.
According to preliminary reports, the incident involved a trailer with registration number AZJ 474. Eyewitnesses said the two trailers collided while in motion, causing one of them to veer off the road before smashing into a roadside shop.
The crash caused panic among residents, traders and passersby in the busy Calaba Town commercial area.
The extent of damage to the shop and its contents is yet to be fully assessed, while it is not yet independently confirmed whether any person sustained injuries or fatalities.
Bai Bureh Road, which is the main highway linking Central Freetown to the Eastern part of the city and Waterloo, has recorded several serious accidents in recent months, many involving heavy-duty trucks and trailers. Residents have repeatedly raised concerns over reckless driving, brake failure and over-speeding by long vehicles plying the route.
Police from the Calaba Town Division and the Sierra Leone Roads Safety Authority (SLRSA) are expected to visit the scene to control traffic and commence investigations into the cause of the accident.
Authorities have again urged drivers, especially drivers of heavy-duty vehicles, to exercise caution, conduct proper vehicle checks before embarking on journeys, and adhere to traffic regulations to avert such accidents.
More details to follow as the situation develops.
