No fewer than 18 persons were, on Saturday, burnt to death in a road accident which occurred on Akure – Owo expressway in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The accident, which involved an 18-seater bus, with registration number Adamawa YLA 25 XU, and a truck with registration number Lagos GG 873 XM, occurred around 3:30 a.m. on Saturday.
An eyewitness explained that the accident occurred when driver of the truck lost control of the vehicle and collided with the passenger bus, which was coming from the opposite direction, upon which the two vehicles caught fire on impact.
According to him; “the truck was coming from the Owo direction. As the driver was trying to avoid a pothole on the expressway, he lost control of the vehicle, swerved off to the other lane and collided with the bus, which was coming from Lagos, obviously heading towards the Northern part of the country.
“Immediately the two vehicles collided, they caught fire and all the occupants of the bus got burnt. The victims were burnt beyond recognition.”
Confirming the accident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), Mr. Femi Joseph, said the driver of the truck and his mate survived the accident, but they ran away after the crash.
Joseph said; “it was a case of a head-on collision at a time the truck wanted to avoid a pothole on the road. The driver and the ‘motor boy’ of the truck survived the accident, but we are yet to know their whereabouts.”