Eight Edo indigenes returning from Spain die in Ogun accident

Eight persons, comprising five men and three women, died yesterday in an accident on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

The Hummer bus conveying them reportedly rammed into a Mack truck, marked (Lagos) MUS 730 XN, around 8:30 a.m at the Wictech stretch of the expressway, about two kilometres from Danco filling station.

The victims – believed to be Edo State indigenes who just flew into the country from Spain – were said to have chartered the bus, marked (Edo) BEN 313 YX, in the fleet of Iyare Motors and heading to Benin, the Edo State capital, for an engagement.

Our reporter sighted operatives of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE) evacuating victims, clearing obstructions and directing traffic on the scene.

TRACE’s spokesman Babatunde Akinbiyi said the driver of the speeding Hummer bus rammed into the rear of the truck in an attempt to overtake it.

Akinbiyi said seven of the victims died on the scene while one other died later.

The remains of the victims have been deposited at the morgue of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) in Sagamu, Ogun State.

Two others, who rescued alive, were said tom have been taken to the hospital for treatment.

FRSC’s Public Education Officer (PEO) Florence Okpe said speeding by the Benin-bound commercial bus caused the accident.

She said: “The suspected cause of the crash was a speeding commercial bus travelling from Lagos to Benin in Edo State. It rammed into the truck ahead of it.

“The number of people involved is 14, comprising six men and eight women, all adults. Four women were injured.

“The FRSC rescue team evacuated the injured to OOUTH in Sagamu and the bodies have been deposited at the hospital’s mortuary.

“The Ogun State Commander of the FRSC, Corps Commander Clement Oladele, reiterated the need for drivers to always travel at recommended speed limit because “life has no duplicate”.

He added: “Passengers should not abdicate their responsibility of cautioning their drivers whenever they engage in reckless driving.”