40 escape death as bus catches fire in Anambra, one dies in Ogun auto crash

About 40 passengers yesterday escaped being burnt when a luxurious bus conveying them reportedly went up in flames along the Enugu-Onitsha expressway in Anambra State.

The bus belonging to one of the transport companies in the South East was said to be on its way to Lagos from Enugu when the incident occurred.

It was gathered that the fire was ignited from an overheated tyre, which bursted after the driver stopped to examine the bus.

An eyewitness, who identified himself as Obadiah, said the tyre of the ill-fated bus busted when the driver stopped to check which of the tyres was faulty. It was while he was checking the tyre that it busted, emitting flames, which suddenly engulfed the bus. All the passengers on board were able to disembark from the bus with their belongings before the fire broke out.”

He, however, said efforts by officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and other individuals to put out the fire was futile as the whole bus was razed.

Meanwhile, a yet-to-be-identified commercial bus driver has died after he lost control of his Toyota bus with number plate AKD 101 XS while driving on Sagamu/Ijebu-Ode Expressway, Ogun State, in the early hours of yesterday. The driver, whose body had been deposited at Idera Hospital Morgue, was commuting passengers from the east and was inbound Sagamu to Lagos when the tragedy struck at the Babcock University slope on the expressway.

It was learnt that the driver, who was speeding, lost control of the bus and rammed it into a Fiat van from behind, injuring seven commuters in the process.

The commuters were taken to the Babcock University Teaching Hospital, in Ilisan, for urgent medical treatment.

The Public Relations Officer, State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, Babatunde Akinbiyi, who confirmed the accident, said men of the Ikenne Police Division had impounded the bus, adding that the van was yet to be evacuated.