Eleven persons died on Thursday while eight others sustained injuries in a ghastly accident that happened along the Edo state section of the Benin-Lagos expressway involving a Toyota Hiace 18 seater bus and a truck belonging to Dangote.
It was gathered that the accident happened around 11am at the Ovia river which is notorious for accidents due to a failed section of the road and the bridge by the river.
It was gathered that a truck heading towards Benin from Lagos on top speed rammed into the bus that was said to have slowed down at the failed portion of the road after brushing the back side of a Kia vehicle killing 11 persons on the spot and injuring several others.
An eye witness said the “Toyota Hiace bus going to the East enroute Edo state slowed down at the bad portion of the Ovia river bridge but Dangote truck that was on top speed rammed into the bus, killing the passengers”
Some occupants of the bus and victims were coming from Lagos after attending a programme organized by a popular Lagos based church.
The Edo State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Paul Okpe who confirmed the accident, said “We had a crash on the bridge at Ovia River this morning. A truck ran into a Toyota Hummer Bus and the casualty is 11 persons lost their lives, very unfortunate and eight persons injured.
“Both the dead and the injured were moved to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) by our ambulances and three vehicles were involved. The truck ran into the hummer but before hitting the hummer bus, it narrowly missed a small Kia vehicle. The three vehicles are in the police station not far from our office at the Toll Gate.
“For the possible cause, we are leaving that to our Accident Investigations to establish, but it was the truck that ran into the vehicles and the casualties were in the bus.”
