EIGHTEEN passengers, on Monday, died in an accident at Okada town, on the Benin-Lagos-Ore expressway, while six persons lost their lives in another auto crash on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
Those dead in the Edo auto crash included two children, 15 adults and a motor-boy of a heavy duty truck.
The accident caused heavy gridlock on the expressway, as it happened on a one-way lane while construction work was ongoing on the other lane.
The accident involved a heavy Mark truck loaded with gravel and a commercial Toyota bus belonging to Peace Mass Transit Company Limited.
Edo State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Kenneth Nwaegbe, confirmed the accident in a chat, but said many children who survived the accident had been taken to the hospital for treatment.
Nwaegbe said: “It was not really a head-on-collision like that. What happened was that the Mack truck was carrying gravel and was coming from Ore to Benin when it lost one of its tyres and control. And the Toyota bus was coming from Benin to Lagos when the two collided.”
Rescue operations were carried out by FRSC operatives from the toll gate unit command, policemen from Okada town police station and some sympathisers.
Coordinator of Save Accident Victims of Nigeria, Dr Eddy Ehikhamenor, said all the victims were burnt beyond recognition.
Meanwhile, six people lost their lives on Monday afternoon in an accident involving a commercial Mazda bus, with the registration number Oyo XE 675 LUY and a Mack truck, with the registration number Lagos XX 455 GGE, at Kilometre 114, Lagos/Ibadan expressway.
The 14-passenger bus, according to eyewitness, veered off the road and hit a truck, where it was parked by the side of the road, leading to the death of six people — four males and two females — who aboard the vehicle.
Assistant Corps Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Oluyole Unit 1, Sanya Adeoye, said the unit in conjunction with the rescue team of the state ambulance service and team of Operation Burst, was at hand to rescue some victims, while the remains of the dead had been deposited at the Adeoyo State Hospital morgue, Ring Road, Ibadan.
Adeoye said the cause of the crash could not be immediately ascertained, but stated that they believed the bus had a mechanical fault.
According to him, “the bus veered off the road to hit the stationary truck by the side of the road. We could not ascertain the cause of the crash, but we strongly suspect a mechanical deficiency that made the driver of the bus to veer off the road.
“In all, 14 passengers were involved, six died (four males and two females) while their corpses have been deposited at the Adeoyo morgue. The injured victims are now receiving treatment at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan. Also, the sum of N64,210 and five euro was recovered from the victims.”
Adeoye said immediately the crash was confirmed, the FRSC team of investigators moved to the scene to ascertain the remote and immediate cause, “so that the report of the investigation could be put into use to prevent future occurrence and help us design intelligence-based patrol of the highway. In addition, it would also help us in our enlightenment activities of the motorists on the preventive methods in a time like this.”
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