Seven persons, including a pregnant woman, died in crashes on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and Oba-Ile in the Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State on Thursday.

It was gathered that the pregnant woman was in a bus conveying tomatoes, while the two traders were in a Mazda bus laden with garri on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

The spokesman for the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, Babatunde Akinbiyi, confirmed the incident.

Akinbiyi said the fatal crash occurred around 5am at the Danco area of the highway inbound Lagos.

The accident occurred two days after a tanker explosion killed two persons in the Ogere area of the Ikenne Local Government Area of the state.

Akinbiyi explained that a DAF truck (flat body) with number plate XY 895 GGE; a granite-laden Iveco truck with number plate JBD 16 XY; a Mazda bus with number plate LND 676 XX conveying tomatoes; and another Mazda bus with number plate BDG 755 YA conveying garri were involved in the crash.

The TRACE spokesman said, “The driver of the Mazda bus conveying garri lost control as a result of excessive speed and rammed into a runaway truck from the rear, leading to multiple hits by other vehicles.

“Among the three victims, who died in the unfortunate crash, were two male occupants of the Mazda bus conveying garri and a pregnant woman in the Mazda bus laden with tomatoes,” he said.

He added that the remains of the deceased had been evacuated by officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps and deposited in the Idera Private Morgue, Sagamu, while TRACE officials had cleared the road.

In Oba-Ile, three persons lost their lives in a fatal crash on the Airport Road.

The deceased were a lady and two men, whose identities could not be ascertained as of the time of filing this report, while three others sustained varying degrees of injury.

An eyewitness said the accident involved a Toyota Corolla car with number plate Lagos APP 91 GR and a Mercedes Benz bullion van belonging to the Central Bank of Nigeria with number plate Ondo JTA 478 AA.

It was gathered that the car was heading for Oba-Ile, while the bullion van was moving towards Akure.

According to the eyewitness, who said he participated in the evacuation of the corpses, the crash occurred when the driver of the car lost control and the vehicle jumped over the road divider and rammed into the bullion van coming in the opposite direction.

“A lady and two young men in the car died on the spot, while another lady sustained injuries,” the eyewitness said.

There are claims that the crash resulted in gridlock on the road for several hours.

As of the time of filing the report, men of the Federal Road Safety Corps, the Nigeria Police and other sympathisers were clearing the scene.

The state sector command of the FRSC said, “The injured victims were taken to Joe Jane Hospital by passers-by and the corpses were taken to the same hospital; the car was towed to the Oba-Ile Police Station, while the bullion van was towed to the CBN office in Akure by policemen.”

Similarly, a yet-to-be-identified driver lost control of his vehicle and killed two persons at Magboro in the Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State on Monday.

The driver, according to information, was in company with three other persons in a Honda Pilot SUV, lost control of the vehicle and rammed into a shop and killed two persons.

An eyewitness, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told one of our correspondents that the vehicle rammed into a woman’s shop and the workshop of a carpenter, adding that shops in the area had been close till further notice.

The eyewitness stated, “The accident happened between 8am and 9am. The vehicle rammed into a woman and a carpenter’s shops. We locked up our shops the following day to pay respect to the deceased. But the estate management has come to cordon off the area.

“The estate security men prevented us from opening our shops until they settle the matter. My husband died three years ago. I’m a single mother and I don’t know what to do about the order to close our shops,” he said.

Another trader, who simply identified herself as Jane, said, “The accident happened on Monday. Two persons died. The vehicle was parked here before four persons, who were going into the estate boarded it.”

The Chief Security Officer of Forthright Garden Estate, Magboro, who refused to be identified, said he assisted in lifting an injured man into a vehicle that conveyed him to hospital, adding that the police at Warewa were currently handling the case.

The CSO said, “I went to the scene when the crash happened. It involved a black Honda Pilot. I didn’t see the woman, who died, but I saw the man. I even helped in lifting him into a vehicle that conveyed him to Roa Hospital in Arepo. He was bleeding from the nostrils. He was awake and spoke to nurses at Roa Hospital before he was referred to a hospital in Sagamu.

“The man died on his way to the hospital. The Warewa Police Station has taken over the case. The vehicle is in their custody,” he said.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the case was being investigated, adding that the families of the victims were exploring the option of settling the matter out of court.

“The case is still on. The vehicle is with them at the station, but the families of the two victims are still discussing with the other parties. The victims’ families said they want to settle out of court. We have to give them that window of opportunity to discuss with each other,” he stated.

(The PUNCH)

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