10 die in Ogun road crash

No fewer than 10 people lost their lives while three others sustained varying degrees of injuries in an accident that occurred along the Ijebu-Ode-Ibadan Expressway on Friday night.

News learnt that the accident occurred when a vehicle conveying the 15 occupants plunged from the Omu Bridge located at the Awa Ijebu axis of the expressway.

A source in the area who identified as TMC on Saturday, told our correspondent that the vehicle was speeding when it lost control and plunged into the river beneath the bridge.

Videos of the incident shared with our correspondent showed some of the passengers lying lifeless while sympathisers made efforts to recover other passengers from the vehicle that had become stuck in the river.

TMC said, “A tragic accident involving an 18-passenger bus en route from Ijebu Ode to Ibadan occurred a few hours ago on the bridge after Awa, with the bus crashing into the river, possibly due to over-speeding, resulting in about 12 fatalities.”

Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, Babatunde Akinbiyi, disclosed that the accident occurred at about 8:30 pm on Friday.

Akinbiyi noted that emergency responders were unable to access the scene until early Saturday morning.

He identified the lone vehicle involved in the accident as a Mitsubishi bus with the number plate EJ829-LSR.

He added, “According to eyewitness account, wrongful overtaking while on high speed led to failure of the driver to maintain control after noticing an oncoming vehicle.

“The bus driver veered into the bush and rammed into a stone base (gravel) already abandoned on the road beside the bridge, which made the vehicle dive into the river entirely.

“15 people were involved, three injured and 10 (three females and seven males) dead. Two people, including a toddler and an adult, escaped unhurt.”

The TRACE spokesperson noted that the bodies of the deceased victims were deposited at the Ijebu-Ode General Hospital morgue.