Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
Nine persons were, on Tuesday morning, killed while one other sustained serious injuries in a fatal accident which occurred few meters after the Sagamu Interchange, along 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, belonging to Iyare Motors.
The bus was said to be travelling to Benin-City in Edo State on a chatter by the passengers, who arrived Nigeria from Spain early Tuesday morning, enroute Benin for an engagement.
Akinbiyi explained that the accident occurred due to excessive speeding 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 couldn’t control the vehicle again, in an attempt to overtake the truck in the front, he rammed into it from behind, thus resulting into the casualties, including the driver, who was cut beyond recognition”, TRACE spokesperson stated.
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 also towed away to the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) yard at the Sagamu Interchange, while the wreckage of the passenger bus has been taken to the Police Area Command, Sagamu.