No fewer than Nine passengers were on Thursday burnt to death in an auto crash involving a Toyota Hiace commercial bus at Ijebu-Ife along Sagamu – Benin expressway.
An eye witness said the bus with 19 passengers was heading to Lagos from the eastern part of the country when the accident occurred around 3:20 pm today.
He said the vehicle’s fuel tank had developed a fault while on transit, but the driver had tied the malfunctioning tank with a rope.
The tank reportedly detached from the vehicle while on motion, sparked off and went up in flames.
The Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Ogun state, Clement Oladele, confirmed the incident in a statement made available to our correspondent on Thursday in Abeokuta.
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Oladele said nine people died including two children, while 10 of the passengers were rescued out of which three of them sustained varying degrees of injuries.
“Preliminary investigating by the FRSC Crash Investigator revealed that the vehicle while on transit suffered malfunctioning and had to stop intermittently at several times to repair faulty fuel pump and fuel tank which they kept on managing by tying ropes to support the malfunctioned fuel tank.
“The driver hoped he could manage the vehicle to Lagos, but it suddenly sparked and engulfed in fire while on the motion.
“The unidentified flammable substances conveyed in the bus assisted to intensify the inferno.
“After the fire was extinguished by the Nigeria Fire Service, a total of nine persons, consisting of seven adults and two children were confirmed dead,” he said.
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Oladele implored motorists to adhere strictly with the 1947 United Nations Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) to prevent such type of avoidable crash.
He said that the injured victims were rescued to ROONA Hospital, Ijebu Ode for immediate medical attention, while the deceased was deposited at the same hospital morgue.