One of the very bad things that happen where there is petrol scarcity or unpredictable price of petrol is unimaginable accidents. This was the situation in Ijebu Ode.
The devastating incident on the Ijebu-Ode-Ore Expressway, saw passengers burn helplessly in a fire breakout in single-vehicle accident.
At least 18 passengers tragically died in that fatal accident on the Ijebu-Ode/Ore expressway, Ogbere area of Ijebu East local government in Ogun State.
The victims were burnt beyond recognition in the incident involving a Toyota Hiace, with registration number XA 690AKU.
One passenger sustained injuries.
The spokesman for the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE), Babajide Akinbiyi, confirmed the incident in a statement issued.
Cause Of Ijebu Ode Express Accident
The accident, which occurred due to an inferno from Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) stored in a jerry can inside the vehicle, was classified as a lone accident.
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“According to eyewitness accounts and this was corroborated by the driver, there was a keg full of Petroleum Motor Spirit inside the bus.
“It fell on its side when the vehicle got to a 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,” Akinbiyi explained.
He added that the driver, who was partially burnt, was rescued and taken to Rona Hospital in Ijebu Ode, while the deceased were deposited at the State Hospital Mortuary, Ijebu Ode.
While warning drivers against storing fuel in jerry cans, Akinbiyi expressed condolences to the families of the deceased.
A sad story indeed, but it lays credence to the situation of things in the oil-rich nation that has raised cost of petrol two times in one month.
Another set of persons having a hard time in the hardship are small business owners.
The video below explains what SMEs are facing under the current government of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
