10 die in Lagos

Scene of the tanker explosion. Source: @trafficpalava,

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No fewer than 10 persons have been confirmed dead on Thursday after they were reportedly burnt to death in a tanker explosion at the Sagamu interchange, along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway in Ogun State.

Our correspondent gathered that five vehicles were also burnt in the inferno.

The Public Education Officers of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Ogun Sector Command, Florence Okpe and Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, Babatunde Akinbiyi, confirmed the accident.

AKinbiyi and Okpe said the victims of the accidents were burnt beyond recognition.

According to them, the vehicles involved in the accident were: a Mack truck with registration number: AKL 198 ZT, an Iveco truck with no registration number, a Mazda bus marked, FFE 361 XB, an unmarked Howo truck, and the Mack tanker.

They attributed the cause of the accident to excessive speed on the part of the Iveco truck.

Okpe said, "The driver of the Iveco truck which was traveling at the top speed lost control and rammed into the tanker which resulted in the fire outbreak due to leakage.

"The suspected cause of the multiple crashes was excessive speed which led to the loss of control on the part of the Iveco truck and smashed the tanker body which resulted in fire outbreak due to leakage.

"The Mazda bus got engulfed in the spark of the fire."

She added that the burnt bodies were taken to Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu.

"The Sector Commander FRSC Ogun Sector Command, Ahmed Umar has commiserated with the family of the victims after visiting the scene of the incident.

"He (Umar) also advised motorists to drive cautiously, obey traffic rules and regulations as well as consider each other while driving," she said.

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