15 dead, 38 injured as truck plunges into Ogun river
A truck crushed 15 persons to death and injured 38 others in a fatal accident at the Omi River, Ajegunle bridge along the Ibadan/Ijebu-Ode highway in Ijebu-Ode Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The accident, which occurred early Tuesday morning, involved a white Mitsubishi truck with registration number XE331MKA.
The truck reportedly veered off the road and crashed into the dried Omi River along the Ibadan/Ijebu-Ode road.
The Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Ogun State Command, Clement Oladele, who confirmed the incident, said the truck was travelling from Sokoto with overloaded with passengers.
He said, “Rescue operatives led by the FRSC unit commander, Ijebu-Ode and the FRSC rescue operators from the FRSC Ago-Iwoye outpost command were quickly mobilised to the scene.
“Rescue operation is still ongoing. However, 15 corpses, all male adults, of the passengers crammed in the truck, have been recovered from the Omi-River under-bridge.
“So far, thirty-eight passengers in the truck sustained varying degrees of injuries and were taken to the state hospital Ijebu Ode for treatment.
“The corpses of the dead victims have been evacuated to Sabo in Ijebu-Ode with the Sarki Hausawa (Hausa community leader) making arrangements with the police for the mass burial of the dead victims.”
Speaking on the possible cause of the crash, Oladele said, “the suspected cause of the crash is fatigue as the vehicle veered off the road and crashed into the dried Omi River along the Ibadan/Ijebu-Ode road”.
According to Oladele, the Omi River bridge is bereft of safety railings.
He added that rescue operation was made easier because the river had dried up.
The sector commander commiserates with the victims and advised passengers to desist from boarding vehicles designed only for goods, which he said, by their configurations, are not made to commute passengers but goods only.
The sector commander also advised families of the victims to contact the FRSC command in Ago-Iwoye or Ijebu-ode for details of the dead victims. Punch
