Mother, 3 Kids, 5 Others Die In Auto Crash

Uchechukwu Olisah, Benin City - 02.02.2008

Nine people, including a woman and her three children, died in a road accident that occurred on Friday at the slope near the Ikpoba River along the Benin bypass.

Ten other persons were seriously injured in the accident. The woman and her children were reportedly traveling from Okposi in Ebonyi State to Lagos when the accident occurred.

The Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission Benin (FRSC) Toll Gate Unit, Mr. Chukwuma Uzor, who led rescue operation at the scene of the accident, said a kerosene tanker, whose brake failed, ran into a Toyota Hiace bus carrying the passengers.

The bus, with registration number XR 526 ENU, belonged to Ifesinachi Motors, while the tanker’s registration number was XA 746 RNG.

According to Uzor, the tanker pushed the bus and its occupants into a 30-metre ditch by the road, killing eight passengers in the bus.

He said the driver of the tanker also died. The ninth person died later at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), where the dead and injured were taken.

Uzor decried the slow pace of work on the other lane of the dual-carriageway, which he said had been at the same spot in the last three months.

He contended that were it not for the congestion on the single available road, the accidents that had occurred in the valley in the last three months could have been averted.

The FRSC commander appealed to the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Edo State Government to bring pressure to bear on the contractor handling the repair of the failed section of the road to expedite action.

Uzor recalled that more than 30 people have been killed on that section of the bypass since the repair works started three months ago.