Fifteen persons died while another 38 were injured when a white Mistibushi Canter truck veered off the road yesterday morning and crashed into Omi River along the Ibadan-Ijebu Ode road.
It was gathered that the truck, marked XE331MKA overloaded with passengers, was coming from Sokoto.
The Ogun State Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Clement Oladele, in a terse statement made available yesterday to Eko Trust in Abeokuta, said 15 corpses, all male, crammed into the mini truck, had been recovered.
Oladele added that rescue operation was ongoing.
“So far, 38 passengers in the mini truck sustained various degrees of injuries and were rescued and taken to the State Hospital, Ijebu Ode. The corpses of the dead victims have been evacuated to Sabo, in Ijebu Ode, with the Sarki Hausawa making arrangements with the police for mass burial of the dead victims.
“The suspected cause of the crash is fatigue as the vehicle veered off the road and crashed into the dry Omi river. The river has a narrow bridge bereft of safety guard railings,” he said.
Oladele commiserated with the victims and advised passengers to desist from boarding goods-only vehicles “which by their configurations are not designed for transporting passengers but for only goods. Trucks with open compartment and without comfortable seats are not suitable for passengers’ safety.”
He advised families of the victims to contact the FRSC Command in Ago Iwoye or Ijebu Ode for details of the crash.
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