WOLE BALOGUN, Ado Ekiti
Four passengers on Monday sustained severe injuries in an auto crash where a commercial bus crashed into herds of cattle on the Efon Alaaye-Esa Oke highway, close to the border between Ekiti and Osun states.
Seven cows were also said to have been killed during the collision.
The Nissan Mazda bus was said to have crashed into the herd of cattle and somersaulted into a ditch injuring four persons among the passengers.
An eyewitness told newsmen in Ado Ekiti that seven cows were killed in the process and that fatal casualties could have been recorded but for swift action taken by operatives of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
The source explained that the bus was coming at a high speed and was negotiating a bend very close to Ita Ore Junction in Efon Alaaye when it suddenly ran into the cattle numbering over 1,000.
He said the driver of the bus had lost control and rammed into the moving cattle before the bus swerved off the road and plunged into a ditch .
“Death could have been recorded but the FRSC men from Ita Ore in Efon Alaaye Ekiti quickly came to the rescue.
“They evacuated the four people that got wounded and took them to the hospital for treatment,” the source said.
The FRSC Public Relations Officer in Ekiti, Mr. Mohammed Olowo confirmed the story.
Olowo said only one person was wounded contrary to the eyewitness account, which disclosed four.
“It was even a surprise to many that nobody died owing to the severity of the accident. But seven cows died during the collision”, he revealed.