Not fewer that eight persons, including an infant, were reportedly dead, while 12 persons sustained varying degrees of injuries in accidents involving many vehicles, which occurred at the Sagamu interchange area of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Ogun State on Wednesday.
The accidents, which occurred around 7.56pm, reportedly involved 43 persons made up of 38 males and five females.
The Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps, Ogun State, Clement Oladele, and the Public Relations Officer of the state Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, Babatunde Akinbiyi, confirmed the crashes in separate statements in Abeokuta on Thursday.
Both agencies stated that the injured persons were made up of six male adults, five female adults and a male infant.
According to Oladele and Akinbiyi, the vehicles involved in the crashes were seven, including two white Toyota Hummer buses with number plates LSR 560 XJ and XD 792 EZA; a white DAR truck with number plate LND 04 XX; and an ash Toyota Corolla with number plate APP196BQ.
Others are a red tanker with number plate DED 776 XA; a white tanker with number plate APP 248 XT; and an ash Toyota Siena with number plate ABC 512 ZV.
Both the FRSC and TRACE said while the corpses of the dead victims had been deposited in the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital mortuary, the injured victims were also taken to the OOUTH and the Famobis Hospital, Mowe.
Oladele, while commiserating with the families of the victims, advised members of the public, whose relatives travelled during the period, to contact the FRSC commands in Sagamu and Mowe, or approach the two hospitals where the victims were taken to.
“The FRSC has commenced crash investigation into the unfortunate incident, as preliminary investigation suggested that the accidents might have been caused by excessive speeding and recklessness, which led to a container falling on two commuter buses and the drivers of the other vehicles losing control and ramming into one another,” Oladele stated.
He advised motorists to bear in mind that the entire stretch of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was still under construction and enjoined them to observe the maximum speed of 50km per hour in compliance with the National Road Traffic Regulations, 2004.
According to Akinbiyi, the fatal crashes were caused by excessive speeding, reckless driving and loss of control on the part of one of the drivers of the vehicles involved.
He said the development led to a container to fall off from its hook and smashed the two buses.
According to him, in the process, other vehicles rammed into one another while attempting to escape from the scene.
“Members of the general public are advised to check the Olabisi Onabanjo Teaching Hospital for their loved ones,” Akinbiyi added.
•Source: Punch
