At least 18 persons have died in a road crash which occurred on Akure road, Ondo State.
The incident which occurred today (Saturday) involved a white Toyota ‘Hummer’ vehicle and a heavy-duty truck.
Reports gathered that the accident occurred few metres away from the popular Akure Airport road on the Akure-Owo highway.
The Toyota vehicle’s – an 18-passenger bus – registration number is YLA25XU while that of the truck is GG873XM.
An eyewitness, Mr. Temitope Adeola, said both vehicles had a head-on collision.
READ ALSO: Ebonyi Women Appeal To Buhari For Ministerial Slots
“The driver of the bus was coming from Abuja with speed while the driver of the truck was driving on the wrong side of the road. Before we knew it, the driver of the Toyota white bus had a collision with the truck. Immediately the two vehicles went up in flames.
“In fact, all the passengers in the vehicles were burnt into ashes and even beyond recognition,” he said.
The Ondo State Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) confirmed the crash in a telephone interview.
Mr. Olusegun Ogungbemide, Heads of Operations of the FRSC, said the crash occurred due to wrongful overtaking and speeding by the drivers of the vehicles.
“Yes, it is true the accident occurred at Airport road on the Akure-Owo road and it involved a truck and an Hummer bus. The crash was caused by wrongful overtaking and speeding on the side of both drivers.
“According to our investigations on the crash, the whole 18 passengers of the Hummer vehicle died in the crash. All of them were burnt beyond recognition and they were mostly all adults traveling from Abuja,” Mr. Ogungbemide.
He, however, added that the Rescue Team of FRSC had evacuated the casualties.
Meanwhile, SaharaReporters learnt that the driver of the truck survived the crash.
Femi Joseph, spokesperson for the Ondo State Police Command, who also confirmed the accident told reporters that the driver fled the scene immediately after the fatal crash.
“It happened this evening and we joined the FRSC in evacuating the burnt bodies but we learnt that the driver of the truck and his motor boy flew immediately the accident occurred,” he said.
