No fewer than nine people, seven adults and two children were burnt to death on Thursday afternoon, as a commercial bus caught fire on motion, at Ijebu-Ife area, along Ore-Ijebu-Ode-Sagamu expressway.
According to a statement by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ogun State Command, the ill-fated vehicle belonging to a transport company, was reported to be travelling from the Eastern part of the country to Lagos, before the unfortunate happened.
The vehicle, a Toyota Hiace, had 19 passengers on board, including 17 adults and two children.
The State FRSC Public Education Officer, Superintendent Route Commander, Florence Okpe, said the vehicle according to one of the survivors carried chemical substances suspected to be inflammable.
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She said 10 passengers were rescued from the inferno with some of them suffering from first degree burns.
Those rescued were reported to have been taken to a private hospital in Ijebu-Ode, for medical attention.
Okpe said men of the Fire Service were able to contain the raging fire.
She said: “The FRSC rescue team on receipt of the information raced to the crash scene and commenced rescue operations.
“While some of the passengers were rescued from the raging inferno, some other passengers as at the time of this report are still trapped in the burning vehicle.
A total of 10 people comprising 6 male adults and 4 female adults have been rescued from the inferno with 3 other people made up of 2 male adults and 1 female adult sustained serious injuries with some suffering 1st degree burnt
“During the investigation, by the FRSC Crash investigators, one of the injured victims confirmed the total number of passengers as at the time the ill-fated vehicle commenced the trip were 17 passengers.
“The vehicle was coming from the East going to Lagos and was conveying the passengers with some chemical products identified to be inflammable products.”
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