LAGOS SEPTEMBER 1ST (URHOBOTODAY)-Tragedy again struck Saturday evening when an 18 seater vehicle coming from Ore of the Benin – Lagos expressway heading to the Edo State capital plunged into a river.
According to the toll gate unit commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Ameen Adewale, who confirmed the accident said six persons have been brought out of the river with four alive and two dead.
Adewale said a woman and a child between the age of two and three years was brought out of the river dead.
He added that the victims rescued alive have been taken to an undisclosed hospital for medical attention while corpses of the accident victims have been deposited in a mortuary.
The FRSC commander added that the ill-fated bus has been brought out of the river with nobody inside, an indication that other passengers might have fallen into the river.
He said, his men and other rescue team are still searching the river possibly to ascertain if any of the passengers fell into the river.
He added that the vehicle which has the capacity to carry about 15- 18 persons have its back seats loaded with goods.
Adewale who could not give details on what caused the accident as well as the vehicle particulars simply said it is a Mazda bus.
An eyewitness account however attributed the cause of the accident to one lane driving occasioned by the closure of one of the ways by the authorities of Reynolds Construction Company (RCC), an Israelis construction firm that is undertaking rehabilitation work on the expressway.
He noted that the construction firm that is undertaking a repair work on the pavement of the bridge that is designed to prevent vehicles plunging into rivers on the expressway would have opened the entire road on weekends for free movement of vehicles when they are not on duty.
He said the closure which led to vehicle plying on one way contributed to the accident.
As at the time of filling this reports at about 7.10pm on Sunday, men of the FRSC and other rescue team were still searching for victims inside the river.