30 killed as trailer-load of people loses control

About 30 people, all male were killed and at least 50 more sustained varying degrees of injuries when a trailer loaded with passengers travelling to Lagos lost control, tumbling down and spilling them onto the expressway.

The accident which occurred at the Adeosun portion of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Sunday was said to be as a result of excessive speeding, impatience, and struggle for right of way by the trailer driver, and another J5 peugeot bus.

A victim, who lost two relatives, covered the faces of the deceased with clothes and broke down in tears, refusing to be consoled by sympathisers.
He kept shouting the name of Allah as he wailed uncontrollably.

A survivor, who gave his name as Mohammed Seripino, said the trailer was coming from Kaduna and had travelled all night.

According to him, each passenger paid N1,000 as transport fare, and that the journey had been smooth from Kaduna before the unfortunate incident.
“We are all Hausa. We were coming from Kaduna. Each passenger paid N1,000. This (accident) is not good,” he said.

An eyewitness, who gave his name as Yinka Dada, said he was seeing off his son, who was on his way to Lagos, when the accident occurred.
He said, “I saw everything. I was by the roadside when the accident occurred. I was with my son who was going to Lagos when I saw two vehicles speeding as if they were competing in a race.

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“The other vehicle was able to control the wheel, while the driver of the trailer lost control, tumbled down the expressway, and spilled out the passengers one after another.”
Sympathisers at the scene lamented the response of the police and the officials of the FRSC and began to rain curses on Nigeria’s political class.
An Electrical Engineering student of the Abdul Gusau Polytechnic, Zamfara, who did not disclose his name, said government should be blamed for the poor response to the plight of the victims.
The student said, “Our leaders have embezzled all the money that should be used to put infrastructure in place. This is why people are dying like rats.”
A middle-aged man, Onyekachi Otuonye, lamented rescuers’ response time to the accident.

Otuonye said, “This is deplorable. Even slaves should not be treated like this. Human lives should be treated with respect and dignity.”
However, the FRSC said 17 people died in the accident, while 79 others were injured.

The Oyo State Sector Commander, FRSC, Yusuf Salami, said the accident involved an articulated vehicle and a Peugeot J5 vehicle.

He explained that both vehicles were travelling to Lagos, adding that the accident was caused by impatience, speeding and struggle for right of way.
He said, “A Peugeot J5 with number plate, XS 626 LSV, and a DAF articulated vehicle with number plate, AA 902 MML, had an accident as both drivers were struggling for the right of the way. They were both going to Lagos when the accident happened around 9.30am on Sunday. It happened just before the campus of the Dominion University in Sepo, on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

“There were 96 people involved, with 17 confirmed dead. It is obvious that both drivers were speeding and suddenly lost control of the vehicles. The Peugeot bus was loaded with passengers and goods, but the casualty figure rose because the other vehicle was travelling to Lagos with huge number of illegal passengers.”

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