No fewer than four persons were crushed to death on Saturday in Moniya-Iseyin road, in Ibadan the Oyo State capital when a truck conveying sharp sand loosed control.
At least ten persons also suffered varying degree of injuries while five motorcycles and three tricycles were destroyed beyond repair.
The victims include, a motorcycle operator, a woman, an underage boy and a trader at the Moniya Butcher market, Ibadan.
Save for the woman who died while being rushed to the hospital by members of the public who stormed the scene of the accident, the other victims died before the dust settled.
The driver of the tipper was said to have escaped from the scene of the incident unhurt.
Eyewitness around the scene of the incident told reporters that the casualty figure would have been higher if not for a member of the transport union unit at the Moniya garage, who saw the haphazard manner with which the truck was descending the hilly road and who immediately alerted people to scramble to safety.
According to the source, the tipper driver was seen struggling to gain control of the truck which was suspected to have left a tipper garage within the Moniya axis with the load of sand, but the bad situation of the road did not help matters.
Chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers, (Motorcycle), Moniya Garage Unit, Mr. Idris Oladoja described the incident as a sad development that could have been averted.
Men of the police force from nearby Moniya Divisional headquarters and Ojoo were seen at the scene maintaining traffic flow and law and other.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Oyo State Command, SP Adekunle Ajisebutu said two people were confirmed dead and their corpses deposited at the State Hospital, Mortuary, Ringroad, Ibadan for autopsy.
The police spokesperson also added that the erring driver of the tipper has been arrested and the accident vehicle recovered to the station for VIO inspection.
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