2 die as bus plunges into river

Olayinka Olukoya, Abeokuta. - 02.05.2008

Two persons died on Thursday when an 18-seater Toyota Hiace bus plunged into a river along the Shagamu-Benin expressway near Ososa junction in Odogbolu Local Government Area of Ogun State.

The incident, according to an eyewitness, happened around 10.00 a.m. as the bus was said to be travelling from Lagos to Balyesa State.

Rescuers were able to pull out one of the three passengers in the vehicle.

Officials of the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE) and the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) as well as symphatisers thronged the scene of the accident which led to the rescue of other trapped passengers.

An eyewitness, Mr. Solomon Adebanjo, said: “We were facing Shagamu when all of a sudden, we saw the bus hit the rail and got to our side from the opposite direction. Before we knew what was happening, it was already in the river.

“It was after we stopped that we discovered that a heavy duty trailer had hit the bus. We had to chase the trailer to the old Ijebu Ode toll gate because the driver refused to stop and help the accident victims.”

It was also learnt that the bus was loaded with flour.