Multiple accident claims 2, injures 8

An early morning multiple accident claimed two lives and left at least eight others seriously injured in Sango Ota, Ogun State yesterday. Sympathizers could not help wailing when they saw a victim, a female child whosehead was smashed.

The accident, which occurred at the Tollgate Area, directly in front of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ota office involved a tipper lorry loaded with gravel, four commercial (Danfo) buses, one tricycle popularly called Keke Marwa and four motorcycles popularly called Okada. The driver of the 18-tyre trailer with Lagos registration number XY 03 EPE, according to Ota FRSC Unit Commander, Mr. Kolawole Salami, lost control due to brake failure and rammed into other vehicles in front of him.

The trailer was descending the slope towards the Tollgate from Dalemo end of the town when the accident happened and affected buses with Lagos registration numbers XN 858 MUS, XR 350 EPE, XR 608 ABC. Also involved was a Marwa tricycle with registration Y 317 FST and three motorcycles, one of which has registration number QY 461 FST.

Though eyewitnesses claimed that up to five people died, the FRSC unit commander, told Daily Sun in his office that only two casualties, one male adult and a female child died,” adding that “while the two corpses were deposited at a morgue at Ifo, the eight people injured were taken to the Ahmadiyyah Hospital, Ojokoro, Lagos and Ota General Hospital for treatment.

When Daily Sun got to the scene of the accident, men and officers of the FRSC, members of the Ogun State Traffic Control Agency (TRACE), were controlling the traffic occasioned by the crash, while a detachment of policemen prevented the angry crowd from setting the offending truck, which driver had escaped on fire.

Speaking with Daily Sun in his office, Kolawole Salami attributed the crash to recklessness of the driver, poor maintenance of the vehicle, speeding and dangerous driving,” regretting that these were the major causes of accidents.