File Photo of a motor accident scene
No fewer than six persons have been confirmed dead, and several others injured in an accident involving a trailer conveying tiles and a lorry loaded with soft drinks on Monday at Oke Eleshin, Amuloko, along Akanran Road, Ibadan.
Among the injured was a pupil whose mother reportedly died in the crash.
Four of the injured were reportedly rushed to the Amuloko City Hospital for proper treatment.
The dead were also deposited in an unnamed hospital.
A staff of the Oyo Road Transport Maintenance Agency (OYRTMA), who spoke on a condition of anonymity at the scene, said: “The accident occurred in the early hours of today. It was caused by the brake failure of the trailer that was descending the slope of the road.
“Having lost control, it crushed a tricycle popularly called Keke NAPEP, another lorry conveying soft drinks which were coming from behind it and tried to avoid hitting the trailer in front, and in the process hit and crushed another Keke NAPEP.
We heard that six persons died while five persons sustained injuries. They have all been taken away from here.”
The accident caused a serious gridlock with passengers alighting and trekking. Many parked their vehicles by the roadsides, pending when security operatives cleared the vehicles from the road.
Aside from the two articulated vehicles and the two tricycles involved, two other cars were damaged in the multiple accidents.
Sympathizers, who were prevented from burning the vehicles, blamed the drivers (who had escaped), claiming that the accident could have been minimized if the driver of the one that lost control had swerved into a ditch instead of facing the incoming tricycle.
Security operatives on the ground included men of Operation Burst, OYRTMA, Police, Road Safety, Amotekun, and local vigilantes.
When contacted, the Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Oyo Command, Mrs. Rosemary Alo confirmed the accident but said she would officially confirm when her men brief her appropriately.
Oyo Police Public Relations Officer Adewale Osifeso said the FRSC Commander would give a detailed report on the accident.
