Tragedy struck in Ogun State, on Thursday when a commercial bus reportedly exploded while on motion resulting to the death of almost nine passengers, while three others were injured.
DAILY POST reports that the accident, which involved a Toyota Hiace bus, occurred at Ijebu Ife along the Ore-Ijebu/Ode-Sagamu road in Ogun state.
It was gathered that the accident occurred when the commercial bus which was carrying 17 passengers exploded while on motion.
The Ogun Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Clement Oladele, confirmed the accident, in a statement made available to DAILY POST in Abeokuta.
Oladele explained that the cause of the explosion was due to malfunctioning of fuel tank of the commercial bus.
He, however, said some passengers were still trapped inside the burning bus as of the time of filing the report.
He added that ten persons, who sustained various degrees of injuries were rescued from the inferno.
He said, “at about 1520HRS, a case of fire outbreak involving a Toyota Hiace Commercial Bus while on motion with 15 passengers have occured at Ijebu Ife along the Ore – Ijebu Ode – Sagamu expressway today Thursday 16 January 2020
“The FRSC Rescue Team on receipt of the information raced to the crash scene and commenced rescue operations
“While some of the passengers were rescued from the raging inferno, some other passengers as at time of this report are still trapped in the burning vehicle.
“A total of 10 people comprising six men and four women have been rescued from the inferno with three other people made up of two men and one woman, who sustained seriously injuries; with some suffering first-degree burns.
“The cause of the Fire outbreak is yet unknown as investigation into the cause of the sudden Fire-Outbreak of the vehicle on motion is ongoing, with the Fire Service now on ground to extinguish the inferno.
“The injured victims were rescued to RO’ONA HOSPITAL Ijebu Ode for immediate medical attention.
“During investigation, one of the injured victims confirmed the total number of passengers as at the time the ill-fated vehicle commenced the trip were 19 passengers.
“The vehicle was coming from the East going to Lagos and was conveying the passengers with some chemical products identified to be inflammable products
“Further preliminary investigations by the FRSC Crash Investigator revealed that the vehicle, while on transit, suffered malfunctioning and had to stop intermittently at several times to repair the faulty fuel pump and fuel tank, which they kept on managing by tying ropes to support the malfunctioned fuel tank with the connecting fuel tank connection; as the driver hoped could be managed to take them to Lagos, suddenly sparked and engulfed in fire.
“The faulty fuel tank at some point in the journey detached partially from the vehicle while on motion. The tank was haphazardly fixed and at some point during the trip, made contacts with the road surface, causing intermittent sparks.
“The unidentified flammable substances conveyed in the Bus assisted to intensify the inferno.
“After the fire was extinguished by the Nigeria Fire Service, a total of nine people seven adults and two children were confirmed dead.
“The FRSC Ogun State Command has commiserated with the victims of the unfortunate incident and requested their relatives to contact the FRSC Unit Command at Ijebu Ode for details of the crash
“The FRSC has again advised motorists to adhere strictly with the 1947 United Nations Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangereous Goods by Road (ADR) to prevent this type of avoidable crash.”
