Eight people die in Delta road accident – FRSC

No fewer than eight people were burnt beyond recognition on Sunday on the Ologbo Bridge, Benin/Sapele Expressway in Delta State, south-south Nigeria.

The Federal Road Safety Commission(FRSC) spokesperson, Bisi Kazeem, who confirmed this in a statement in Abuja stated that the crash which occurred on 1 October at about 1 p.m. also had seven people injured.

Mr Kazeem said the crash involved 15 different vehicles – a Toyota Hiace Bus, two Ford buses, a Volkswagen Passat, two J5 Peugeot buses, a motorcycle and eight tankers.

“From the report gotten from the FRSC rescue team, a total of 15 people, all male adults, were involved.

“Out of this number, seven people got injured, while eight victims were burnt beyond recognition.

“The truck laden with Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS), coming from Warri, Delta State fell on the highway and spilt the PMS product on the road.

“This led to an explosion that gutted the aforementioned number of vehicles and the 15 male victims,” he said.

Mr Kazeem quoted the FRSC Corps Marshal, Dauda Biu, as calling on fleet operators, especially owners of tankers conveying inflammable products to ensure compliance with minimum safety standards by installing safety valves in their vehicles.

This, he said, is to eradicate all incidences of mishap resulting from lack of safety valves in tankers.

Mr Biu also called on owners and operators of tankers to comply with all safety standards set by the government on the operation of that category of vehicles on Nigerian roads.

He directed commanding officers to ensure that tankers that did not meet safety standards were not allowed to ply the highways.