At least 36 passengers were burnt beyond recognition in an accident that occurred on the Benin-Ore Expressway on Friday.The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), which had earlier confirmed that 62 people were razed in the accident, later put the figure at 36.
The accident happened at about 1pm at Ugbogui Village, very close to Benin. It involved an articulated vehicle (truck), a tanker loaded with diesel, and a luxury bus containing passengers on their way to the eastern part of the country from Lagos.
According to reports, the tanker, with Registration Number GA 71 XA immediately burst into flames, the fire consuming the passengers, other nearby vehicles, a mechanic workshop and the Ugbogui Market.
Officials of the FRSC said the truck belongs to Dangote Group of Companies while the luxury bus belongs to Young Shall Grow, a transport company.
Confirming the incident, Jonas Agwu, the FRSC spokesman, said: “The fire spread to a nearby mechanic workshop where eight other vehicles got burnt. A nearby local market called Ugbogui Market also got burnt.”
He added that the incident, which he described as a major crash, spawned traffic gridlock on the two carriageways but that his men were on ground at the scene.
Though eyewitnesses said the figure could be more, the FRSC said it got the figure from the passenger manifest.
Witnesses at the scene said some of the survivors have been rushed to nearby hospitals and security men have taken over control of the heavy traffic on the road.
At the time of this report, the fire was still raging as FRSC, the Police and men of the Fire Service made frantic efforts to normalize the situation.
