No fewer than nine persons were on Thursday burnt to death in a lone accident involving a Toyota Hiace bus at Ijebu-Ife on the Sagamu – Benin Expressway.
Mr Clement Oladele, the Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abeokuta.
Oladele said that the accident, which happened a 3.20 p.m., involved 19 people.
He said that the ill-fated bus was conveying 17 adults and two children before the incident.
The FRSC boss stated that 10 other passengers were rescued with three of them sustaining serious injuries.
He said that that preliminary investigation showed that the bus, which departed from the East was Lagos bound, was conveying the passengers with some inflammable chemical products.
“Preliminary investigation 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 managed the vehicle to Lagos, but there were sudden spark and explosion, which engulfed the vehicle in fire while on motion.
“The unidentified inflammable 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.
Oladele advised motorists to adhere strictly with the 1947 United Nations Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) to prevent this type of avoidable crash.
He said that the injured victims were rushed to ROONA Hospital, Ijebu Ode, for immediate medical attention, while the deceased was deposited at the same hospital morgue.
The sector commander commiserated with the victims of the unfortunate incident and requested their relatives to contact the FRSC Unit Command at Ijebu Ode.
