A keg of petrol kept in a commercial vehicle has caused the death of 18 passengers in a lone accident involving a commercial vehicle which occurred on Monday on Sagamu -Benin expressway.
The 18 passengers who were burnt to death beyond recognition were traveling in the white Toyota Hiace bus when the accident happened around RCC yard, along Ijebu-Ode/Benin expressway at about 3:30 pm, leaving the driver critically injured.
According to Spokesperson of Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE), Ogun State, Babatunde Akinbiyi, the bus went up in flames after it entered into some failed section of the road.
The impact of the potholes on the vehicle resulted in the keg of petrol kept inside the bus by the driver to spill and poured on the exhaust pipe of the vehicle
“The cause of the crash according to a witness account which was corroborated by the driver was that there was a keg full of PMS inside the bus which fell on its side when the vehicle got to the failed portion of the road.
“The PMS poured on the floor of the bus and later dropped on the exhaust pipe and caused the vehicle to catch fire on transit,” Akinbiyi said.
Akinbiyi said that the injured driver is presently receiving treatment at Rona Hospital while the corpses of the victims have been deposited at the State Hospital, Ijebu Ode.
He commiserated with the families of the victims, and warned drivers to stop carrying petrol in their vehicles when traveling.
In a similar development, seven people were also injured as a result of overspeeding when the tyre of a Mazda bus with registration No JGB 330 ZT burst causing the vehicle to crasharound Ita Osu at about 6:45 pm on Monday along Abeokuta-Siun-Sagamu expressway.
