24 PEOPLE DIED IN AN ACCIDENT ON OKPILA/AUCHI ROAD IN EDO STATE

It was a harvest of deaths from road accidents, yesterday, as a total of 24 people perished in two separate accidents that occurred on the Lagos-Ibadan and Benin-Lagos expressways.

In the Ibadan crash, no fewer than six persons lost their lives, while eight others sustained serious injuries.

Vanguardngr gathered that the accident involved a commercial bus with number plate OYO XE 675 LUY and a truck with number plate Lagos XX 455 GGE.

A SCENE OF AN ACCIDENT ON OKPILA/AUCHI ROAD IN EDO STATE

It was learnt that the 14-passenger bus skidded off the road and ran into the truck parked by the roadside.

About N64,210 and five Euro were reportedly recovered from the victims.

Confirming the accident, Assistant Corps Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, Oluyole Unit 1, Mr. Sanya Adeoye, explained that the corpses of the victims were taken to the morgue, while the injured were rushed to University College Hospital, Ibadan.

He said: “The bus veered off the road and hit the stationery truck by the roadside. We suspect a mechanical fault.

“In all, 14 passengers were involved. Six died — four male and two female. Their corpses have been deposited at the Adeoyo morgue. The injured victims are now receiving treatment at the University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan.

18 die along Benin-Lagos road

Along the Benin-Lagos express road, a Toyota Hiace bus and a truck loaded with gravel were involved in a head-on collusion, killing 18 passengers.

The incident occurred near Okada, Ovia North-East Local Government Area of Edo State. It led to a serious gridlock as passengers and drivers made frantic effort to save the life of the victims.

Edo State Sector Commander of Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, Mr. Kenneth Nwaegbe, confirmed on phone, yesterday, that 18 persons were roasted alive, while two other children survived the incident.

Among the dead were said to be 15 adults and two kids. Vanguard gathered that the driver of the truck also died in the accident. He said the commercial bus belonging to Peace Mass Transit, left Onitsha in Anambra State for Lagos via Benin when an oncoming truck had a head-on collision on a side of the road under construction.

He said: “What happened was that the Mark truck was carrying gravel and was coming from Ore to Benin when one of its tyres burst and it lost control.

“The Toyota bus was going from Benin to Lagos when the two collided. The dead were removed from the wreckage with axes through the assistance of a team of rescue operation.

The team was made up of officials of FRSC from the Tollgate Unit Command, policemen drafted from Okada town and sympathisers some of who were passengers travelling either from Lagos to the Eastern part of the country or those going to Lagos and other parts of the Western part.”