Two persons were said to have died in a lone accident involving a commercial bus in the Alakia area, New Ife Express Road in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
The accident, which occurred between 4.30am and 6am on Wednesday, left four other persons who had various degrees of injuries hospitalised.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the bus with number plate YYY485AA was en route from Ife to Ibadan when the driver rammed into a ditch that was dug across the road by the construction company currently working on the expressway.
It was also gathered that the vehicle carried a family who was on their way to Ibadan in preparation for their child’s Islamic graduation (Walimot), which was to be held on Saturday.
When our correspondent visited the scene, he observed that the vehicle with some blood stains had been removed from the ditch while food items and some utensils littered the road.
Some sympathisers as well as relatives of the victims were also seen crying and lamenting over the incident.
An eyewitness, Mudashiru Ahmed, blamed the construction company for failure to put a diversion sign on the road.
He said, “I was passing this morning when I saw the accident, so I parked to assist them. The accident happened early this morning, between 4.30am and 6am. Two people died and others have been rushed to the hospital.
“Although, I don’t know the number of people rushed to the hospital because some people were here before I came. I was told four people have been taken to the hospital. But there was a boy that survived and was not taken to the hospital.”
Narrating how the incident happened, a teenage survivor, identified simply as Fawas said they were coming from Ife to Ibadan but on getting to the Alakia area, they suddenly rammed into the ditch.
“We were inside the bus but suddenly, I heard a loud noise and before we knew what was happening, we were being pulled out of the vehicle. No one knew what was happening; we didn’t see anything on the road. I just saw myself standing here. They have rushed Daddy and Mummy to the hospital,” he said.
Meanwhile, some angry mob at the scene beat up and pursued a man believed to be working on the site while he was recording a video of the scene.
When contacted, the FRSC Unit Commander in Egbeda, Akeem Kareem, attributed the accident to speeding and negligence on the path of the driver.
“Three people who were injured had already been taken to the hospital when we got there but two people were found dead. They were removed from the erosion inside the ditch.
“Everybody knows there is ongoing construction work on that road and apart from that, everyone knows the simple rules of driving and ignorance is never an excuse. The point where that accident happened was barricaded and they put some signs there but because of speeding, the vehicle broke through the barricade and rammed into the ditch. So the impact of the speed was so much that the barricade could not hold the vehicle,” he said.