No fewer than 10 persons were crushed to death on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Wednesday after an 18-seater Mazda bus collided with a truck opposite the Four Square camp, in the Ajebo area of Ogun State.
It was gathered that the accident, which occurred at about 2pm, immediately attracted a crowd of sympatisers, who rushed to the scene to assist security agents in taking the victims to nearest hospitals.
Eyewitnesses told our correspondents that those who died were initially taken to the roadside before they were taken away.
It was learnt that the commuter bus with number plate, APP 912 XH, was driving against the traffic (one way) and moving towards Lagos when it rammed into the truck, marked, GGE 338 XL, which was heading for Ibadan, Oyo State.
10 of the passengers in the bus, including its driver, died on the spot while others sustained varying degrees of injuries.
It was learnt that the incident caused a gridlock on the road, but emergency agencies – the Nigeria Police, the Nigerian Army and the Federal Road Safety Corps – arrived at the scene and helped in getting the victims and the bus cleared off the road.
One of the eyewitnesses, Ayobami Adedeji, posted pictures of the deceased, whose bodies were mangled in the accident, on his Facebook page, noting that no fewer than 10 persons died.
He said, “The scene of a fatal accident around the Four Square camp, Ajebo, Lagos Ibadan Expressway, Ogun State, was nauseating. The commuter bus collided with the truck while driving against the traffic. No fewer than 10 persons died. Please, avoid that route, there is gridlock.”
Another witness, who identified himself as Raji, said the foodstuffs conveyed by the bus littered the road. He said the victims were traders, adding that he was frightened by the severed bodies of the dead.
“The scene was very gory. I counted nine bodies lying on the road. Some of them had their legs and hands cut off. The bus driver smashed his head against the steering and died. I learnt that they were traders travelling to Lagos. They are all males. It was terrible,” he said.
Raji blamed the accident on the impatience of the bus driver, saying he drove against the traffic.
“Apart from the 10 persons that died, several others were injured and the bus was badly damaged. An accident like this is avoidable if drivers will learn to comply with the traffic law. Why drive against the traffic? It is totally wrong,” he added.
The Head of Operations, FRSC, Ogun State Command, Deputy Corps Commander, Divis Ogiamiem, said the accident was caused by wrongful overtaking by the driver of the commercial bus at a section of the road where there was a traffic diversion.
He said, “The cause of the crash was wrongful overtaking and loss of control by the driver of the Mazda bus. He was travelling from Ibadan to Lagos; it was in that process that the driver rammed the bus into an oncoming Iveco truck, travelling to Ibadan.
“Ten people died, while others were injured. The accident occurred around 2.10pm today (Wednesday).”
Ogiamiem said the corpses of the victims had been deposited in the mortuary of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu.
He also added that six injured passengers were receiving treatment in the same hospital.
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