A tragic road accident occurred on the Ijebu Ode-Ore Expressway in Ogun State, resulting in the deaths of 18 passengers. The incident took place in the Ogbere area of Ijebu East Local Government.
The victims were traveling in a Toyota Hiace bus (XA 690AKU) when a fire broke out inside the vehicle. Unfortunately, the passengers were severely burned and could not be identified. One person survived the accident with injuries.
Babatunde Akinbiyi, the Public Relations Officer of the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE), confirmed the incident in a statement. He attributed the fire to a jerry can of petrol that was being stored in thebus.
“According to eye witness account and this was corroborated by the driver, there was keg full Petroleum Motor Spirit inside the bus, it fell on it’s side when the vehicle got to failed portion of the road. The PMS poured on the floor of the bus and later dropped on exhaust pipe and caused the vehicle to caught fire on transit” he said.
”The partially burnt and injured driver rescued to Rona Hospital in Ijebu Ode,while the dead deposited at State Hospital Mortuary, Ijebu Ode.
While admonishing drivers to desist from storing fuel in Jerry cans to avoid situations like this,the public relations officer however commiserate with the families of the deceased.
