A HUNDRED and seventy-six commuters were evacuated at the scene of an accident along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway on Friday night into Saturday morning, after an
articulated vehicle containing inflammable materials was involved in an accident that involved 24 other vehicles on the road.
The accident, which occurred near the Sagamu Interchange, caused large traffic snare on the road on Saturday, prompting officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, to advised motorists to find alternate routes to their destinations.
The public education officer of the FRSC corps, Mr. Bisi Kazeem, told journalists that no lives were lost in the accident, although two persons were reported injured and were evacuated with other potential victims of the deadly accident.
The accident comes barely a day after a similarly deadly accident left at least five persons burnt to death in a multiple accident near Mowe in the Obafemi/Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State. The accident, which occurred few very close to the Redeemed Camp belonging to the Redeemed Christian Church of God, involved a articulated vehicle loaded with petroleum product which rammed into some trucks parked along the sideways of the popular dual carriage way.
Eyewitnesses said the accident occurred when a Lagos bound trailer with Kebbi State identification tag XB 370 ZUR rammed into some of the petrol tankers parked irregularly on the sides of the dual carriage highway, leading to an instant explosion that engulfed both the heavy trucks parked along the road and some attendants popularly known as ‘motor boys’ who were caught unawares.
The accident also caused heavy traffic jam along the every busy road, forcing many motorists and passengers to find alternate routes. Officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), and the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, (TRACE) as well as the Police had a hectic controlling traffic.
“It is a sad event, but we have tried to no avail to stop drivers from parking along the road, because of accidents like this,” lamented an official of the FRSC who requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak on the accident. Reacting to the accident yesterday, the concessionaire of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Bi-Courtney Highway Services Limited, noted that it had always complained that trailers parking on the roadside are hazardous.
The concessionaire said it had created eight temporary trailer parks along the expressway to take heavy trucks off the road shoulders, but drivers still park carelessly along the road. “You will recollect that the concessionaire has offered to build permanent trailer parks on the road, which could have solved the problem, but the move did not receive the support of the Ogun State government through the acquisition of land.