15 Die, 38 Injured As Mini Truck Plunges Into Ogun River
About 15 persons on Tuesday lost their lives, while 38 others sustained varying degrees of injuries when a mini-truck carrying passengers plunged into a river along the Ibadan – Ijebu-Ode highway corridor in Ogun state.
The accident, which occurred at the early hours of Tuesday involved a white Mitsubishi Canter mini truck with registration number (Kaduna) XE 331 MKA which crashed into Ome River in the Ajegunle bridge axis, very close to the former Refugee Camp in Oru Ijebu.
It was learnt that the ill-fated overloaded mini-truck was carrying a total number of 65 passengers, all crammed together and were said to be travelling from Sokoto state to Ijebu – Ode town of Ogun state.
It was further gathered that driver of the mini truck attempted to overtake another vehicle while on top of the narrow Ome river bridge which is bereft of safety guard railings.
It, however, took the effort of personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) from the Ago – Iwoye outpost command to rescue the injured victims to the State Hospital in Ijebu – Ode for medical attention.
The FRSC Sector Commander in Ogun state, Clement Oladele, who confirmed the accidents, attributed cause of the crash to fatigue, stressing that the vehicle veered off the road before it finally plunged into the dried Ome River along the Ibadan – Ijebu-Ode highway.
The FRSC boss further explained that corpses of the deceased have been evacuated and handed over to Sarki Hausawa in Ijebu – Ode, who as of the time of filling this report, was making arrangements with the police for their mass burial according to the Islamic rites.
