At least, five persons were reportedly burnt to death on Wednesday as a petrol tanker that collided with a truck went up in flames near Tunji Alegi Filling Station, Kwakyama area of Ogere, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The Ogun State Sector Commander, Ahmed Umar, who confirmed the incident, said the accident occurred around 4:46am.
While the Ogun State Government attributed the high spate of auto crashes on the highway to laxity on the part of road contractors, Umar attributed the accident to wrongful overtaking and dangerous driving by the petrol tanker driver who collided with a moving truck.
He stated that the bodies of the five persons that died in the incident were burnt beyond recognition.
Umar said, “The FRSC wishes to inform the motoring public of the fire incident on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway which occurred in the early hours of today (Wednesday), involving a petrol tanker laden with Premium Motors Spirit around Tunji Alegi Filling Station, Kwakyama area of Ogere.
“This development calls for caution as the spill has affected some other vehicles parked at the shoulder of the road.
“A total of five vehicles were involved in the inferno. I urged motorists to cooperate with traffic managers so as to reduce hours spent in the traffic gridlock.”
During his assessment visit, Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, commiserated with families of those who lost their loved ones in the incident.
He said, “I want to call on the contractor handling this (road) project to expedite action. We are going to be holding them responsible for any accident because safety measures are not in place, and this is just an unnecessary loss of lives for us.
“We’ve had too many of these type of sad days on our major highways in Ogun State but of particular note is the recurrence of this type of incidents around this corridor of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.”
