Sagamu (Ogun) – Another multiple crash involving 24 vehicles near Sagamu, on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway caused traffic disorder on Saturday, according to the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC).
FRSC Deputy Corps Public Education Officer, Mr Bisi Kazeem, said that the accident occurred on Friday night when a trailer loaded with petrol fell and caught fire near the Sagamu interchange.
He said although no lives were lost, two persons sustained injuries while 176 people travelling in the affected vehicles had been evacuated.
The accident involved motor cars, mini and luxury buses, tankers as well as trailers, he said.
He appealed to motorists to use alternative routes to and from Lagos to avoid the gridlock, while fire-fighters, police and FRSC officers are battling to ease the traffic.
On Thursday, there was a traffic logjam between Sagamu and Redeemed Christian Church on the expressway as a tipper, three fuel tankers and three articulated vehicles exploded on impact.
Meanwhile the Ogun State Police Command on Friday said that it would ensure that the accident scene near Shagamu on the Lagos/Ibadan expressway was quickly cleared.
About 15 vehicles were burnt near the Shagamu interchange on the expressway shortly after midnight on Wednesday.
The Police Commissioner, Mr Ikemefuna Okoye at the accident scene said that firefighters, road safety personnel and the police were at the scene to ensure that the burnt vehicles were cleared from the road.
“All the senior personnel from the Ogun State Fire Service, the Ogun Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and the Ogun Police Command are here to ensure that free flow of traffic is restored without further delay.
“We shall all remain here until the situation on the Lagos/Ibadan expressway returns to normal,’’ he said.
On the cause of the incident in which about six petrol trucks and 10 vehicles were burnt, he said that the Police learnt that an articulated vehicle carrying iron rods rammed into a petrol truck shortly after midnight on Wednesday.
“The iron rods perforated the side of the truck and fuel started gushing out from it.
“This resulted into a big fire which engulfed many of the nearby vehicles because they could not immediately escape,’’ he said.
Okoye said that he could not immediately confirm if lives were lost in the mishap, adding that the police was still investigating the incident.
The incident caused a huge gridlock on both sides of the Lagos/Ibadan expressway on Thursday.
All vehicles were diverted to the Ibadan/Lagos side of the expressway as only one lane had been cleared at the accident scene on Friday afternoon.
This is to enable some of the vehicles going to Ibadan, Abuja, Benin and the eastern states to find some access. (NAN)
SOURCE: 2 June 2012
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