18 die in Lagos-Benin road crash

Posted by admin Headlines Saturday, March 19th, 2011

Tragedy struck along the Benin-Lagos Road, yesterday, when an 18-seater bus, traveling from Lagos to the East, plunged into the Igbese river, the border between Edo and Ondo State . The entire 18 passengers were feared dead.

It was learnt that the accident, which occurred at about 12:30 p.m., happened when the driver of the bus lost control of the vehicle and ran into the river.

An eye witness said the bus belonged to a popular transport company, adding that the tragic incident created panic in the community. However, it was gathered that the villagers sent out rescuers into the river and at the time of filling this report, three bodies were said to have been recovered.

Matters were made worse due to the delay of the arrival of men of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC). Efforts to reach Edo State sector commander, Henry Sunday, were unsuccessful as his line was not reachable.

However, according to an official of the FRSC, who identified himself as Mr. Martins, a rescue team was deployed to Ugbogi Village where the accident happened. Reacting to the series of accidents witnessed along the road of recent, the national coordinator of Save Accidents Victims of Nigeria (SAVAN) disclosed to journalists that, at least, 200 persons have died along the Benin-Lagos Road in the past few months as a result of accidents associated with the bad state of the road.

-Vanguardwp_posts