Pregnant Woman, Six Others Roasted To Death Along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway Tragedy struck at the weekend when seven people, including a pregnant woman and a baby, were roasted to death along Lagos/Ibadan expressway while five officials of Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE) and an unspecified number of traffic police were injured by hoodlums at Kara end of same expressway. According to Vanguard report, the accident, which involved an 18-seat bus, occurred around 3.30pm as the bus, which took off in Lagos, reportedly went up flames. It was gathered that the commercial bus painted in white with blue stripes suddenly developed leakages on the fuel tank, which spilled its contents. Investigation revealed that prior to the moment the vehicle caught fire, one of the passengers in the vehicle was said to have noticed a spark from the engine and raised the alarm, which made the driver to stop abruptly in order to check the cause of the incident. According to eyewitnesses’ account, all the passengers scampered for safety as soon as the vehicle stopped but this was unfortunately too late, as the fire had made the vehicles door to jam preventing the passengers from fleeing to safety. It was gathered that before help could come, seven of the passengers, including a pregnant woman and a baby, were burnt beyond recognition while eleven others sustained varying degrees of injuries. Some of the sympathisers were said to have put a call across to the fire fighters in Ogun State but none arrived the scene until the situation degenerated. Meanwhile, some TRACE officials were said to have rushed to the scene but were prevented from rendering any assistance as hoodlums descended on them, venting their anger. In the process, five officials, including the Akute Head of Operations, were assaulted. An eyewitness said the traffic Police around the axis were not spared as the hoodlums injured many of them. Reports have it that it took the intervention of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) in Lagos and Quick Response Squad from Mowe axis, before the situation was put under control. The incident was said to have caused traffic jam on the expressway outward Lagos, which lasted for hours. TRACE Public Relations Officer Babatunde Akinbiyi, who confirmed the development, said the officials arrived the scene as soon as they received a distress call but lamented that the miscreants threw caution to the wind, causing further damage on the very busy expressway. The bodies and the injured persons were said to be taken to Ogun State University Teaching Hospital (OSUTH) Sagamu.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 11:36:44 +0000
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