At least, 18 passengers have lost their lives in a lone accident that occurred at Ogbere, along the Ijebuode-Ore Expressway, in Ogun State.
Involved in the tragic accident was a Toyota Hiace, with registration number XA 690AKU.
18 of the passengers were burnt beyond recognition while one sustained serious injury.
The incident was confirmed by the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE) spokesperson, Babatunde Akinbiyi on Tuesday.
Akinbiyi attributed the cause of the accident to an inferno from Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, stored in a Jerry can inside the vehicle.
“According to a witness account and this was corroborated by the driver, there was a keg full of Petroleum Motor Spirit (sic) inside the bus, it 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 in transit” he said.
“The partially burnt and injured driver was rescued to Rona Hospital in Ijebu Ode, while the dead deposited at State Hospital Mortuary, Ijebu Ode.”
While commiserating with the families of the deceased, Akinbiyi admonished drivers to desist from storing fuel in Jerry cans to avoid incident like this.
