Panic As 15 Die, 38 Injured As Truck Plunges Into Ogun River

Fifteen persons lost their lives, while 38 were injured after a mini-truck plunged into the Omi River on the Ibadan-Ijebu-Ode Expressway in Ogun State on Tuesday.

It was gathered that the white mini-truck with number plate XE 331 MKA, which was loaded with 58 passengers, was travelling from Sokoto to Ijebu-Ode when it plunged into the river around 5.40am.

The Ogun State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Clement Oladele, told PUNCH Metro that the suspected cause of the accident was fatigue on the part of the driver, who veered off the road.

Our correspondents learnt that the rescue effort was coordinated by the FRSC unit commander, Ijebu-Ode, and personnel from the Ago-Iwoye outpost were mobilised to the scene of the crash.

Oladele stated that the remains of the deceased had been evacuated to Sabo, while the injured were taken to the State Hospital in Ijebu-Ode.

He said, “A fatal crash involving a white Mitsubishi Canter mini-truck with number plate XE 331 MKA, which was overloaded with passengers and travelling from Sokoto, occurred at the Omi River, Ajegunle Bridge, along the Ibadan-Ijebu-Ode Road in the early hours of this morning (Tuesday).

“However, 15 corpses, all male adults, out of the passengers crammed into the mini-truck have been recovered from under the bridge from the dried Omi river Director-General, and so far, 38 passengers in the mini-truck sustained varying degrees of injury and have been rescued to the State Hospital, Ijebu-Ode, for medical attention.

“The corpses of the deceased victims have been evacuated to Sabo in Ijebu-Ode, with the Sarki Hausawa making arrangements with the police for their mass burial.”

Oladele, while commiserating with the families of the victims, urged Nigerians to desist from boarding vehicles meant for goods only, noting that such vehicles were not fit for conveying passengers.

“Passengers need to desist from boarding goods only vehicles, which by their configuration, are not designed for conveying passengers but only goods and such trucks’ open compartment nature is without comfortable seats, but mere wooden seats, which are not suitable for passengers’ safety,” he added.

Meanwhile, some motorists escaped death in Lagos on Tuesday when a truck crushed many vehicles in the Osborne area of Ikoyi.

Though no life was lost, the accident caused gridlock on the road and personnel of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority moved to the scene to rescue the victims and clear the obstruction.

Footage of the accident showed seven private cars, which rammed into each other and suffered varying degrees of damage.

The Director-General, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Oluwafemi Oke-Osanyintolu,  said the agency’s rescue team were mobilised to the scene and rescued the victims.

When contacted, the LASTMA spokesperson, Olumide Filade, said he would get back to one of our correspondents but had yet to do so as of when this report was filed.