Fatal accident in Ondo – 21 passengers die

Hundreds of residents of Akure burst into uncontrollable tears on Wednesday when 21 passengers, comprising five men, eight women and seven children were being deposited in the mortuary of the Ondo State Specialist Hospital, in the heart of the town.

They died in a fatal auto accident that occurred at Ilaramokin town end of the Ilesha-Akure Expressway.
The deceased included two pregnant women, seven underaged children and their parents who were going to Benue State from Lagos.

The accident, according to eye witnesses, occurred around 6.30am involving a DAF Truck with number plate LAGOS XU 606 JJJ, going towards Lagos and a Mazda commercial bus with number plate XV 315 FST. The commercial bus had the inscription Obadigbo Local Government Area of Benue State on it.

It was gathered that the accident occurred when the truck driver was trying to avoid a deep pothole on the highway; lost the control of the vehicle in the process and hit the bus. Four people survived the accident while three others were on danger list in the State Specialist Hospital in Akure. One of the survivors, however, lost his wife and a child in the accident. Our correspondent learnt at the scene of the accident in Ilaramokin, that men of the Nigeria Police responded swiftly and evacuated the victims from the wreckage.

Men of the Federal Road Safety Commission were also sighted removing mangled bodies from the bus into the patrol vans.

No fewer than 10 others who were critically injured were on admission in the same hospital. One of the injured, according to sources died immediately after he was treated in the hospital. The accident and emergencies unit of the hospital was also besieged by people who were curious about the identities of the victims.

The Sector Commander FRSC, Ondo State, Mr. Bekinbo Meheux, said going by the number of the victims, the bus was overloaded as it showed that it was conveying 28 passengers instead of 15. He said the accident might have been avoided if the drivers of the two vehicles had been patient. Mehuex advised motorists to be more careful when driving particularly at bad spots and avoid overspeeding.

The accident coincided with a workshop organised by the FRSC for drivers of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, where the commander highlighted some causes of road crashes. The Public Relations Officer of the Ondo State Police Command, Mr. Aremu Adeniran, said the driver of the truck was at fault because he swerved and ran into the commercial bus.

SOURCE: PUNCH