Car goes up in flames, k*ll 7 worshippers on their way to revival

No less than seven worshippers lost their lives on Wednesday, December 28, 2022, as a 15-passenger Mazda bus with number plate, AGL 886 YD, burst into flames.

The accident, which was said to have happened due to engine oil overflow, also left seven others injured around Odogbolu Junction on the Sagamu-Benin Expressway, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.

Disclosing this accident to members of the public, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), Ogun State, Babatunde Akinbiyi said the vehicle explosion happened around 2:50pm yesterday.

According to Akinbiyi, an eyewitness, who recounted how the accident happened, said the vehicle was coming from the Kosofe area of Lagos, inbound Epe, for a church revival when its engine caught fire.

“The number of passengers in the commercial bus was 15, out of which seven females were burnt to death, while the remaining seven were seriously burnt and taken to the Ijebu-Ode General Hospital for treatment. However, the driver of the bus escaped.

“The accidented Mazda bus has been taken to the Odogbolu Motor Traffic Division,” he stated.

In a related development, at least one person died and eight others injured in another accident that occurred at Ukpo Junction, along the Onitsha-Nteje-Awka Expressway.

It was gathered that the road crash involving two vehicles, a commercial Toyota/Hiace bus with Registration number JRV 616 XA and another commercial Toyota/Hiace bus with registration number JJJ 179 XS, occurred in the late hours of yesterday.