NO fewer than 60 people lost their lives on Friday in an accident that occurred in Ugbogui village, along the Benin-Ore expressway. The crash involved a trailer belonging to the Dangote Group of Companies, a fuel tanker and a luxury bus belonging to The Young Shall Grow transport company.
In another multiple crash, 13 people were killed opposite Police Divisional headquarters at Ihiala, along Ihiala-Osha expressway, Anambra State.
According to an eyewitness, the accident along Benin-Ore road occurred at about 1.00 p.m. when the driver of the cement-laden Dangote truck, with registration number GA 71 XA, lost control of the truck after one of its tyres burst and ran into an already parked fuel tanker.
The tanker burst into flames on impact and the fire consumed everything within the radius of the accident, including the Dangote truck, the luxury bus and its passengers.
The fire also spread to a nearby mechanic workshop where it razed eight other vehicles. A nearby local market called Igbogui Market also got burnt.
Residents of the village estimated that there were about 56 passengers in the luxury bus.
When Saturday Tribune got to the scene of the accident at about 5.00 pm, not less than 15 vehicles were seen already burnt or still burning while about 17 shops were also razed by the inferno.
A woman, who identified herself as Eunice Okuyade was very unfortunate as she lost two sons to the inferno. She told Saturday Tribune that she was at home when she saw fire coming from the direction of her shop and she started running towards the shop. She added that by the time she got to her shop, her two sons, who were sleeping in the shop when the accident occurred, had been burnt beyond recognition while the third child managed to escape with a serious injury on her leg.
An official of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) at the scene, who did not want to be named because he was not authorised to speak, however, said that three people were rescued from the fire and taken to a nearby hospital where two of them died.
The FRSC, however, put the casualty figure at 36, saying, “the manifest of the bus revealed the victims’ identities.” It, however, did not say anything about others not in the bus, but killed by the inferno.
According to the FRSC, the vehicles involved in the Anambra accident were a red Honda Accord (AQ995LSR), a truck (XA 546GDD), Toyota Sienna (XY901PHC), Mitsubish bus (XJ689NSH) and another truck (XW852FJK).
Also, an unidentified corps member was, on Friday, reportedly hit and killed by a truck around Saka Tinubu, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The FRSC which posted the photograph of the killed corps member on its Facebook wall, did not give further details.