18 burnt to death in Ondo crash

Eighteen passengers died in a road accident which occurred along Ondo/Ore Expressway at Igushin town in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State yesterday. The Federal Road safety Commission (FRSC) confirmed the incident. Eyewitnesses said the victims were burnt to death in the accident which involved a white Mazda 18-passengers bus coming from Lagos State and a truck, who allegedly hit the bus due to reckless driving of both drivers. It was gathered that at process of the collusion, the bus summersaulted for several times before catching fire thereby burning the passengers to death. Confirming the incident, FRSC Head of Operation, Mr. Akin Adedipe said the accident was caused as a result of over speeding on the part of the drivers of the vehicles involved. Adedipe identified the crashed vehicles as white Mazda 18-passengers bus with registration number: BWR 116 XC and a white Daf Truck with registration number : AAA757XN. Meanwhile, a fire outbreak consumed textile materials and fashion accessories worth millions of naira in a shopping mall on Lagos Island yesterday. Officials of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, who were the first responders at the scene, however confirmed no one died in the disaster. In a related development, a branch of Skye Bank in Ikeja was also consumed by fire. The Lagos Island fire disaster, according to our source, started around 9am, due to power surge, and all efforts made by the workers at the plaza to extinguish the fire failed. Passersby and people working in other companies along the nation’s first commercial centre could only watch helplessly. By the time the officials of the Lagos State Fire Service and men of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) who they thereafter invited came, textile materials and fashion accessories, estimated at millions of Naira, have been burnt. Daily Sun gathered that while some merchants watched helplessly as their wares burnt, others made a lot of efforts at salvaging their goods, as the firefighters combated the flames. Going by the response from an official of the LASEMA, no life was lost in the disaster. The Ikeja incident was said to have started around 10:50 am when the Internet server room in the Skye Bank suddenly caught fire which was also caused by power surge according to our sources. The prompt response of fire fighters from the Ikeja fire station, however helped to bring the situation under control on time. One of the men from the fire service station said, “There was no casualty at all because we were invited on time and we quickly arrested the situation and didn’t allow it to escalate. “We even waited for them to start their banking operation and ensured that there was no problem again before we left their premises,” he added.