Laide Raheem, Abeokuta

Nine persons were killed yesterday morning, while one other sustained severe injuries in a ghastly auto accident, a few meters after the Sagamu Interchange, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The accident, according to the spokesperson of the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE), Babatunde Akinbiyi, involved a Mack truck and a Toyota passenger bus.

The bus was said to be travelling to Benin City, capital of Edo State, on charter by the passengers, who arrived Nigeria from Spain early Tuesday morning and were en route Benin for an engagement. They had flown into Nigeria and chartered the vehicle.
Akinbiyi explained that the accident occurred due to excessive speed and dangerous overtaking on the part of the passenger bus driver.

“The bus was over-speeding and when it dawned on the driver that he could no longer control the vehicle, in an attempt to overtake the truck in the front, he rammed into it from behind, thus resulting in the casualties, including the driver, who was cut beyond recognition,” Akinbiyi said.

He added that, while eight persons died on the spot, one was later confirmed dead at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the crash victims have been deposited at the morgue of OOUTH, while the injured was also taken to the same hospital for treatment.

The Mack truck was towed to the Federal Road Safety Corps yard at the Sagamu Interchange, while the wreck of the passenger bus has been taken to the Police Area Command, Sagamu.