Five burnt to death in Lagos-Ibadan highway bus explosion

At least five passengers died on Friday after a commercial bus they were travelling in crashed into a median and went up in flames at Onigari, a border town between Ogun and Oyo states on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Ten other persons sustained injuries in the lone crash which emergency officials blamed on speeding.

It was learnt that the 18-seater bus en route from Sokoto State had stopped by in Ibadan, Oyo State, to pick some passengers.

As the driver continued the journey to Lagos, he lost the control of the vehicle which ran into the median. The impact of the crash was said to have sparked off the fire.

Men of the Federal Road Safety Corps, the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, and the Nigerian Police, responded to the crash.

The FRSC Sector Commander in the state, Clement Oladele, who confirmed the casualties, said 17 males and a female were involved in the accident.

He said, “The lone crash involved a commercial bus that travelled all the way from Sokoto State but stopped briefly in Ibadan to pick other passengers. The bus was heading towards Lagos State before it lost control at Onigari due to excessive speeding and collided with the road median, with the bus upturning and bursting into flames.

“A total of 10 male adults sustained injuries from the crash but five of the passengers unfortunately died from the crash comprising four male adults and one female adult. The commuter bus is a white Mazda bus with the number plate, WWD 302 CB.”

The FRSC commander commiserated with the families of the deceased and advised members of the public whose relatives travelled along the route, to contact the FRSC Command at Kilometre 27 Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ogunmakin or visit the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, where the injured victims were receiving treatment.

He said corpses recovered from the crash were also deposited at the hospital mortuary.

Oladele enjoined passengers to always caution drivers from recklessly driving and call the FRSC toll free number – 122 – if the driver refused to heed to such caution.