No fewer than two persons have been confirmed dead while four others were seriously injured after a tanker, loaded with petrol, went up in flames at Kara-Aiyetoro, Ogun State end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the tanker was travelling from Lagos State to Ibadan, Oyo State, at top speed, when it lost control and crashed into a truck and a tractor used for construction work by the Julius Berger Construction Company.
It was learnt that the tanker driver and one of the occupants of the truck died in the explosion which occurred around 3.30pm on Saturday.
Our correspondent learnt that firefighters from the Ogun State Fire Service put out the inferno while officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps cleared the wreckage to ease the traffic caused by the accident.
A mechanic in the area, Joshua Atolagbe, said the construction workers were caught unawares as they were relaxing inside the vehicles when the crash happened.
He said, “The tanker driver was speeding. He wanted to avoid some potholes when the tanker derailed. It hit the truck and another vehicle, where the workers were relaxing. Before people could rally round to rescue them, the tanker had exploded. The tanker driver and one of the workers died on the spot. Five others suffered serious burns; but they were rescued. They have been taken to a hospital.”
The Assistant Corps Commander, FRSC, Mowe Unit, Oludare Ogunjobi, said the corpses were deposited in the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, adding that the injured were responding to treatment at the hospital.
He said, “The accident resulted from the speeding of the tanker driver. The tanker veered from its path and rammed into a Mercedes truck and a tractor owned by the Julius Berger Construction Company. Two fatalities were recorded while four persons were injured. The casualties were taken to OSUTH.”
Ogunjobi urged drivers to be safety conscious and comply with traffic rules at all times.
Source: Punch
