…As 15 people sustain varying degrees of injuries

Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has confirmed the death of seven persons in a road accident that occurred on Ibadan-Iseyin road on Thursday.

The Public Relations Officer, FRSC, Oyo Sector Command, Mr Mayowa Odewo, said in a statement that the deceased were five male adults, one female adult and one female child.

Odewo said that 15 people also sustained varying degrees of injuries out of the 22 people involved in the crash.

He attributed the accident, involving a Nissan Urvan commercial bus, with registration number: SEY 254 ZY and a Mazda commercial bus, with registration number LGB 343 XA, to speed violations and fatigue.

Odewo stated that the 13 injured victims, including three male adults, nine female adults and one female child, had been taken to a nearby hospital for medical attention.

He said that four of the seven corpses of the victims had been claimed by their families, while the remaining three had been deposited at a morgue.

“The police from Motor Traffic Division (MTD) Police Division, Moniya, Ibadan, have taken possession of the two crashed vehicles, including bags and other valuables recovered from the scene,” he said.

The FRSC spokesperson noted that no victim was saved by the seat belt or other defensive gadgets.

He urged motorists to always obey traffic rules and regulations as well as adhere to all traffic cautions on the road to prevent avoidable crashes. 

…Gov. Fubara visits accident scene, describes it as tragic and sad

The Police Command in Rivers says four people and over 70 vehicles were burnt in Friday’s fuel tanker explosion in the state.

The explosion occurred along Eleme section of the East-West Road in the state at about 7:30 p.m.

SP Grace Iringe-Koko, spokesman of the command, told the newsmen in Port Harcourt on Saturday that the tragedy occurred following a collision between a heavy-duty truck and a petrol-laden tanker.

A correspondent who visited the accident scene reports that there were severely burnt vehicles and charred bodies of victims on the road.

The incident happened a few meters from the Indorama Petrochemical Company and roughly 10 kilometres from the Port Harcourt Refinery.

There was an extensive gridlock stretching over five kilometres on the road under reconstruction as part of the N200 billion Ring Road project by the Rivers Government.

State government trucks, accompanied by police and Federal Road  Safety Commission officials, were seen evacuating the burnt vehicles to facilitate traffic flow.

An eyewitness, Onyeka Ubani, who narrowly escaped the explosion, stated that while transporting passengers on his newly acquired tricycle (Keke), they heard a deafening sound ahead of them.

“The loud sound was followed by a massive fireball, causing everyone to flee for safety.

“We managed to escape, but unfortunately, my Keke caught fire in the process.

“I thank God for my life, but I am at a loss about what to do with my life now, having recently purchased this Keke,” a distraught Ubani said.

Another eyewitness, David Jumbo, said that he was returning home from work around the Akpajo axis of the East-west Road when the incident occurred.

He narrated that after the explosion, vehicles and victims were caught by fire which stretched over 200 metres.

“It happened so quickly that it could be likened to scenes from Hollywood movies.

“While I was fleeing for safety, I saw a pregnant woman struggling to exit one of the commercial vehicles.

“Unfortunately, when I returned this morning, I found the deceased pregnant woman trapped in the bus as she tried to escape,” he recounted.

Jumbo attributed the accident to the recklessness of truck drivers who disregarded road warnings despite the ongoing road construction.

Gov. Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers, who visited the accident scene, described it as tragic and sad.

He urged motorists to always exercise caution while on the road.

“This incident is not a pleasant one, we recorded a huge number of vehicles destroyed and lives lost.

“I have already asked the relevant agencies to brief us on how we can support the bereaved families to mitigate their losses.

“This incident would have been avoided if the motorists had adhered to proper conduct. People should ply this road with caution,” Fubara said. 

Sixteen would-be migrants have died and another 28 are missing after a boat carrying 77 people capsized off the coast of Djibouti, the second such incident in two weeks, the United Nations migration agency said on Tuesday.

The boat’s occupants included children, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said in a post on social media platform X.

It said its Djiboutian office was helping with rescue efforts.

Two weeks ago, the United Nations migration agency reported that 38 people, including children, died in another shipwreck off the Djibouti coast.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said at least six other people were missing and presumed dead, and that 22 survivors were being assisted by the IOM and local authorities.

Yvonne Ndege, regional spokesperson for the IOM, said the shipwreck happened about 200 metres off Djibouti and that the boat carrying the migrants had left Yemen around 2 a.m. local time on April 8.

It sank about two hours later with around 66 people on board, predominantly from the Horn of Africa region.

They were believed to be mostly Ethiopian nationals, she said.

“Every year tens of thousands of migrants leave the Horn of Africa, mainly from Ethiopia and Somalia trying to reach the Gulf nations,” Ndege said.

“(But) thousands are stuck in Yemen. It’s rational to conclude that the group of migrants who perished in this tragedy was trying to return to Djibouti to buy time and try again later or return home.” 

– Reuters