- By Halimah Olamide
No fewer than 19 persons died on Sunday after a road crash on the Oyo-Ogbomoso Road, Oyo. The Federal Road Safety Corps while confirming the incident, said the tragedy was majorly caused by violation of traffic rules.
Mr Jonas Agwu, Corps Public Education Officer, (CPEO), who is an Assistant Corps Marshal (ACM), confirmed this in a statement in Abuja.
Agwu said that the crash involved two vehicles, a Toyota Hiace Bus registered as NTT52ZY, loaded from Ibadan en route Sokoto, and a Toyota Corolla saloon car.
He said that the crash, which occurred at about 07:45 a.m was due to route violation, referred to in local parlance as ‘One Way’.
He also said that the act was a traffic violation that resulted in a head-on collision and fire outbreak.
According to him, the report revealed that the crash, which was caused by route violation involved 20 people all male adults.
“Of this number, 19 persons were killed , while the only surviving victim was rescued by FRSC operatives with injuries.
“FRSC rescue team that conducted the rescue operations have taken the injured victim to Opabode hospital in Oyo, for emergency medical attention.
“The dead bodies have been deposited at Oyo General Hospital morgue,” he said.
Agwu quoted the Corps Marshal, Dauda Ali Biu, as calling on the motoring public to avoid all incidences that could lead to road traffic crashes.
He also directed sector commanders to step up patrol operations, to address the menace of route violation on the nation’s highways.