Tuesday 23 July 2013

18 Passengers Burnt To Death In Auto Crash Along Benin-Lagos Expressway


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

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

Confirming the accident, Edo State Sector Commander of Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, Mr. Kenneth Nwaegbe, said 18 persons were roasted alive, while two other children survived the accident.

Among the dead were said to be 15 adults and two kids. The driver of the truck also died in the accident, according to a source.

The FRSC sector commander 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.

“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,” Nwaegbe said.




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