Tony Osauzo and Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
One person was killed and two others who were injured were hospitalised, following an accident that occurred in the early hours of today opposite the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, (UBTH) in Benin City.
According to an eye witness account, the accident was caused by a diesel tanker loaded with diesel and a Mercedes-Benz wagon loaded with bags of rice.
It was learnt that the diesel-laden tanker in a bid to avoid a head-on collision, lost control and hit the pavement and burst into flame.
Consequently, diesel tanker and the Mercedes Benz wagon were burnt beyond recognition as a result of the spillage from the truck conveying the diesel, while six other cars that were parked by the roadside were also affected by the heat that emanated from the burning flame.
It however took the combined efforts of the fire services from the University of Benin, army and that of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, to put out the raging inferno.
The Assistant Corp Commandant, Tollgate, Federal Road Safety Corp, Sabina Musa, confirmed the incident and said “the car was trying to enter the express way through the service lane while the tanker was trying to avoid a head-on collision, the driver tried to swerve but lost control and fell and since it was carrying diesel, it just burst into flames.
“And if you see the direction of the vehicle, you will know that a lot of things are wrong with both drivers; this accident could have been avoided but it happened; the driver of the vehicle was trapped.
“The number of persons involved in the accident were three, all male adults; two have been taken to the hospital but one is dead, the one that is trapped inside the tanker vehicle,” she said.
She however, called for training and retraining of drivers.
The Egor Local Government Area chairperson, Eghe Ogbemudia, who visited the scene, expressed sadness over the incident.
“I feel devastated; nobody will be happy seeing a thing like this happen in their local government. I have been here since 5:30am.
“The fire service from the different locations have really helped us.
“I just want to use this opportunity to advise our road users, mostly our drivers to stop driving on one-way because that is what caused this accident.
“Somebody was driving in the opposite direction when this truck was coming and the truck driver lost control, that is what the eye witnesses said,” she said.
The Edo State deputy governor, Philip Shaibu, who also visited the scene of the accident to ascertain the level of havoc, cautioned drivers to always abide by traffic rules.
“First is to get the truck out of this place and check the level of damage this accident has caused and from there we follow it up as a government.
“I think the lesson from this is for us all, that drivers should abide by the road regulations.
“By what I have been told here, somebody was driving against traffic and that is what has resulted to this accident.
“We should maintain our lanes and the immediate thing we have to do here now, is to first evacuate and check the extent of damage and the government will take it from there,” he said.
He called for more public enlightenment for road users to reduce the level of carnage on our roads.
“But I think we need a lot of public enlightenment programmes to educate our commuters on how to obey traffic rules and also stop moving against traffic because that is what I was told caused this accident,” he said.
He expressed optimism that the rail programme of the Federal government when completed, would help decongest our roads from heavy-duty vehicles plying the roads.
According to an eye witness account, the accident was caused by a diesel tanker loaded with diesel and a Mercedes-Benz wagon loaded with bags of rice.
It was learnt that the diesel-laden tanker in a bid to avoid a head-on collision, lost control and hit the pavement and burst into flame.
Consequently, diesel tanker and the Mercedes Benz wagon were burnt beyond recognition as a result of the spillage from the truck conveying the diesel, while six other cars that were parked by the roadside were also affected by the heat that emanated from the burning flame.
It however took the combined efforts of the fire services from the University of Benin, army and that of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, to put out the raging inferno.
The Assistant Corp Commandant, Tollgate, Federal Road Safety Corp, Sabina Musa, confirmed the incident and said “the car was trying to enter the express way through the service lane while the tanker was trying to avoid a head-on collision, the driver tried to swerve but lost control and fell and since it was carrying diesel, it just burst into flames.
“And if you see the direction of the vehicle, you will know that a lot of things are wrong with both drivers; this accident could have been avoided but it happened; the driver of the vehicle was trapped.
“The number of persons involved in the accident were three, all male adults; two have been taken to the hospital but one is dead, the one that is trapped inside the tanker vehicle,” she said.
She however, called for training and retraining of drivers.
The Egor Local Government Area chairperson, Eghe Ogbemudia, who visited the scene, expressed sadness over the incident.
“I feel devastated; nobody will be happy seeing a thing like this happen in their local government. I have been here since 5:30am.
“The fire service from the different locations have really helped us.
“I just want to use this opportunity to advise our road users, mostly our drivers to stop driving on one-way because that is what caused this accident.
“Somebody was driving in the opposite direction when this truck was coming and the truck driver lost control, that is what the eye witnesses said,” she said.
The Edo State deputy governor, Philip Shaibu, who also visited the scene of the accident to ascertain the level of havoc, cautioned drivers to always abide by traffic rules.
“First is to get the truck out of this place and check the level of damage this accident has caused and from there we follow it up as a government.
“I think the lesson from this is for us all, that drivers should abide by the road regulations.
“By what I have been told here, somebody was driving against traffic and that is what has resulted to this accident.
“We should maintain our lanes and the immediate thing we have to do here now, is to first evacuate and check the extent of damage and the government will take it from there,” he said.
He called for more public enlightenment for road users to reduce the level of carnage on our roads.
“But I think we need a lot of public enlightenment programmes to educate our commuters on how to obey traffic rules and also stop moving against traffic because that is what I was told caused this accident,” he said.
He expressed optimism that the rail programme of the Federal government when completed, would help decongest our roads from heavy-duty vehicles plying the roads.