The Ogun state police command has arrested the driver of an 18-seater bus which caught fire on Tuesday, following a gas cylinder explosion and claimed lives of 16 travellers.
This sad incident happened in Buhari Estate along Abeokuta-Sagamu Expressway and according to Akin, an eye witness, state’s fire service would not respond swiftly and all the vehicles that had stopped, none had fire extinguisher.
He stated these as what caused the death of the travellers stating that the issue would have been handled had any fire extinguisher been provided or fire service came.
Meanwhile, during his statement, the Ogun state Public Education Officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Florence Okpe, said two were able to escape u hurt, 2 injured and 16 dead as the bus was conveying a gas cylinder.
“A total of 21 people were involved in the crash. Sixteen victims were burnt beyond recognition, making it impossible to ascertain their genders at the scene, while three others sustained injuries and were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Idi-Aba, Abeokuta,” she said.
However, spokesperson for the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, Babatunde Akinbiyi, said only 15 people were burnt to death as the 16th person would have been the driver who rather escaped.
According to him, the accident was caused by the carelessness of the driver who overloaded an 18-seater bus with 21 passengers and would not drive within speed limit.
Furthermore, he stated that the said driver has been detained untill further investigation.
