3 die in Ibadan tanker accident

THREE people lost their lives, yesterday, in Ibadan when a tanker, with registration number XS 269 ABJ, carrying diesel, collided with another tanker on Ogunpa Bridge at Soka area of the metropolis, while two other people in the tanker escaped death by a whisker.

The tanker, belonging to Gulf Treasures Limited, an oil and gas company in Lagos, was said to be coming from Lagos and had five people on board when it ran into an opening on the road, but attempted to dodge a saloon car in its front before running into another tanker with  registration number XA 619 BBR (Jigawa), said to be carrying fuel from Lagos.

An eyewitness, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Sunday Tribune that the tanker ran into the opening suddenly, noting that it (the opening), which was once fully covered with straps of metals to fasten it, but had worn out, had claimed many lives.

“The driver met the opening suddenly; he attempted not to hit a saloon car in front of it, but in the process hit another tanker carrying fuel. Out of five people in the tanker, three of them died instantly, while two of them escaped death. The saloon car ran away too.”

An officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), who spoke with Sunday Tribune, on the condition of anonymity, also blamed the accident on the opening, saying that any driver who ran into it on full speed could lose his life.

“I ply this road everyday because I stay at Soka area and I know how many lives that opening on the bridge has claimed,” he said.

Another resident of the area disclosed that the wife of the late strong man of Ibadan politics, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, died on the spot a few years ago, adding that the tyre of a vehicle conveying former President Olusegun Obasanjo got damaged by the same opening on the bridge when he visited Ibadan a few years ago.

When Sunday Tribune went round the scene of the accident, residue of human brain was seen on the bridge, while the deceased were seen trapped in the tanker, even as firefighters worked frantically to remove the corpses of the trapped victims and prevent any fire outbreak.

Two survivors of the accident were also seen in a red gulf car, just as people milled round them.

A commercial driver, who refused to disclose his name and that of the deceased, was heard saying he had a phone chat with the driver of the tanker a few hours before the incident, saying he put a call through to him when he was in Lagos. “He told me he had reached Ibadan. Why this incident happened is what I don’t know,” he lamented as he ran to catch a glimpse of the accident again.
TRIBUNE