Five feared dead as truck with PMS
explodes
ABEOKUTA – No fewer than five
persons were feared dead on
Thursday in a multiple accident that
occurred at Ibafo few kilometers to
Redeemed Camp, around Danko Village along the Lagos-Ibadan
expressway when a trailer loaded
with Premium Motor Spirit, rammed
into some trucks parked along the
Express way. An eyewitness told Vanguard that
the accident occurred when a trailer
with registration number, Kebbi,
XB370ZUR rammed into some of the
petrol tankers parked haphazardly on
the two sides of the express way, leaving several people critically
injured. Some of the vehicles torched by the fire at the scene of the accident Photo by Wunmi Akinola The tankers according to the source,
immediately were gutted by fire and
burnt not less than five people
popularly called motor boys while it
also burnt not less than Nine of the
heavy trucks. When Vanguard visited the scene of
the accident, there was heavy grid
lock leading to the diversion of
vehicles to other areas of the road. It was gathered that, three tankers
and seven articulated vehicles were
involved in the accident. Speaking with newsmen on the
matter, the Federal Road Safety Corps
Sector Commander in Ogun State,
Ayobami Omiyale said the accident
occurred at about 12 : 30am on
Thursday, and that, no fewer than 30 passengers were involved in the
accident with two unidentified
persons burnt beyond recognition. He further said that, five people were
critically injured as the accident was
caused by dangerous driving, while
explaining that, one of the articulated
vehicles involved in the accident
caught fire, consuming some other vehicles and killing two. He said “one of the articulated
vehicles was trying to navigate
between two cars and it lost control
before catching fire that led to the
accident on the road.” He however disclosed that the
injured were receiving treatment at
undisclosed hospitals near the scene. He also said the burnt bodies had
been deposited at the Olabisi
Onabanjo University Teaching
Hospital, Sagamu. He stated that the fire was put out by
men of the fire service, adding that
the FRSC was still making efforts to
remove the burnt vehicles and control
the traffic. As at the time of filing the report,
men of Ogun State Traffic Compliance
and Enforcement Agency were seen
moving to the scene of the accident to
control traffic and remove the burnt
vehicles. TRACE Unit Commander for Mowe-
Ibafo, Olusola Johnson Ojuoro told
newsmen that the agency was on
ground to clear the accident scene. He said “the incident occurred
midnight when an oncoming truck hit
one of the parked petrol-carrying
trucks beside the expressway, which
is close to the Sagamu Inter-change. It
was as a result of the impact that the explosion occurred, while the fire
spread and consumed the other trucks
parked nearby.”