At least, 18 persons have reportedly lost their lives after burning to death in an auto crash which occured along Ijebu-Ode/Benin expressway, Edum News reports.
This was disclosed in a statement to newsmen by the Spokesperson of Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, TRACE, Babatunde Akinbiyi in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.
It was gathered that the accident involved a white Toyota Hiace bus around RCC yard, and occured at about 3:30 pm, leaving scores dead and others injured.
The bus had gone up in flame after it entered into some failed section of the road with the keg of petrol inside the bus falling and pouring on the exhaust pipe of the vehicle.
He stated, “The cause of the crash according to eye witness account which was corroborated by the driver was that, there was keg full of PMS inside the bus which fell on its side when the vehicle got to failed portion of the road.
“The PMS poured on the floor of the bus and later dropped on the exhaust pipe and caused the vehicle to catch fire on transit”.
He added that the injured driver had been taken to Rona Hospital for medical care while the corpses of the dead were deposited at the State Hospital, Ijebu Ode.
While commiserating with families of the accident victims, Akinbiyi urged drivers to desist from conveying petrol in their vehicles due to the attendant risk involved.
Written by Hope James
