Eight die in accident, FRSC returns 65,000 Euros to survivors

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ogun command, said it had returned over 65,000 Euros recovered from an accident scene to the victims.

Clement Oladele, the sector commander, disclosed this in a statement by the command’s Public Education Officer, Florence Okpe, in Abeokuta on Friday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that eight persons died on Tuesday in an accident involving a bus and a truck on Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

NAN gathered that the passengers in the bus came in from Spain and had chartered the bus to take them to Benin City.

Mr Oladele explained that it was observed that some of the passengers were traveling with cash, including foreign currencies

He stated that the FRSC rescue team also recovered 80 pounds, 238 Euro cents, N84,800, 32 traveling bags comprising 16 large traveling bags, seven extra large traveling bags and nine large “Ghana must Go” bags.

“In line with the rule of the World Health Organisation , a hospital follow up of the victims of the fatal crash was done by the FRSC to Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu.

“The crash occurred on Tuesday and it involved a white Toyota Hiace bus, belonging to a transport company – Iyare Motors, with registration number BEN 313 YZ and a Mack truck with registration number MUS 730 XN, ” he said.

The FRSC boss noted that a team of FRSC accident investigators conducted a preliminary investigation of the crash and observed that the driver of the commercial bus went to Muritala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos to pick some passengers (with their luggage).

“While traveling along the Lagos /Ibadan expressway, before Sagamu Interchange, opposite Wictech Roofing and Pipes, due to excessive speed, in an attempt to overtake a truck ahead of it, the driver lost control and rammed into the truck.

“There was no evidence of a speed limiter installed in the commercial bus.

“There was also no evidence of a passenger manifest to indicate the identities of the passengers and their Next of Kin to be contacted in case of an emergency.

“The suspected causes of the crash are overloading (goods) and excessive speed leading to loss of control.

“There was no evidence that the passengers in the bus activated their seat belts as at the time of the crash which compelled the passengers to shift and collide with the luggage inside the vehicle.

“This collision was responsible for the injuries and deaths of some of the passengers, ” he said.

The sector commander explained that FRSC had commenced legal actions against Iyare Motors for failing to provide a Passenger Manifest, failure to install a speed limiter and overloading the vehicle with excessive luggage.

He admonished commercial fleet operators to affix speed limiters in their vehicles, provide passenger manifest for every trip and ensure their drivers complied with traffic regulations.

(NAN)