Nine persons were on Thursday burnt to death in a lone accident involving a Toyota Hiace bus along Ijebu Ife on the Sagamu – Benin expressway .
Mr Clement Oladele, the Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), confirmed the incident to newsmen in Abeokuta.
Oladele noted that the accident occurred around 3:20pm and it involved 19 people.
He added that the Ill fated bus comprised of 17 adults and two children.
The FRSC boss stated 10 of the passengers were rescued while three of them sustaining serious injuries.
He noted that the vehicle was coming from the East going to Lagos and was conveying the passengers with some chemical products identified to be inflammable products .
“Preliminary investigating by the FRSC Crash Investigator revealed that the vehicle while on transit suffered malfunctioning and had to stop intermittently at several times to repair faulty fuel pump and fuel tank which they kept on managing by tying ropes to support the malfunctioned fuel tank.
” The driver hoped he could managed the vehicle to Lagos, but it suddenly sparked and engulfed in fire while on motion.
“The unidentified flammable substances conveyed in the bus assisted to intensify the inferno.
“After the fire was extinguished by the Nigeria Fire Service, a total of nine persons, consisting of seven adults and two children were confirmed dead,” he said.
Oladele advised motorists to adhere strictly with the 1947 United Nations Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangereous Goods by Road (ADR) to prevent this type of avoidable crash .
He said that the injured victims were rescued to ROONA Hospital Ijebu Ode for immediate medical attention , while the deceased were deposited at same hospital morgue.
The sector commander commiserated with the victims of the unfortunate incident and requested their relatives to contact the FRSC Unit Command at Ijebu Ode for details of the crash .
