Tragedy struck at Akoda Junction along the Gbongan-Osogbo Expressway late on Thursday night when a petrol tanker veered off the road and crushed five persons including two children to death.
Our correspondent gathered that the NNPC truck, which was travelling towards Osogbo, the Osun State capital on top speed, had a break failure and the driver lost control of the truck.
The truck veered off the road- crushed five persons to death and injured four other persons who were believed to be trading or waiting by the roadside.
However, some residents said the number was much higher than that. One of the residents, who identified himself as Bode told our correspondent that no fewer than 20 persons died in the accident.
He said, “A lot of people died in the accident but I cannot give an exact number because it was dark.
“The truck ran over two commercial buses at the entrance of the motor park. There were traders by the road side who were also killed. The number will not be less than 20 but I did not count them.”
The Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps in Osun State Mr. Umar Ibrahim, could not be reached to comment on the accident. Calls to his phone rang out.
An official of the FRSC, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, however, said five persons were killed and five injured in the accident.
He said, “Three adults and two children were killed. Five persons were also injured. It was a gory sight. The accident was caused by speeding. The tanker suffered a break failure and ran over those people.
“We thank God the accident was not accompanied by a fire incident, it would have been disastrous. All those who were injured would have been burnt to death and even those nearby could have been burnt to death.”
The Area Commander of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Osun West Senatorial District, Mr, Femi Awofadeji, when contacted said he could not give a specific figure for those affected, saying only that a lot of people died in the accident.
Our correspondent, who visited the scene of the accident, saw that one side of the expressway was barricaded by security agents, who were present when the wreckage was being cleared.
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