The Ogun State Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps has warned motorists in the state against overloading their vehicles with passengers or goods while embarking on road journeys.
The warning came following the death of two children in a lone crash that occurred in the late hours of Saturday along the Itori area of the state.
According to the Ogun FRSC Public Education Officer, Florence Okpe, in a statement on Sunday, seven other occupants of the white Toyota Camry with number plate AGL36JA sustained varying degrees of injuries.
Okpe added that excessive speeding on the part of the driver, coupled with the overloading of passengers, led to the crash that occurred at about 11 p.m.
She added that the injured victims were taken to the Ifo General Hospital, while the bodies of the deceased were deposited at the same hospital morgue.
She said, “It was a lone crash that involved one vehicle with the following details: A white Toyota Camry with registration number AGL36JA.
“Seven male adults, one male child, and one female child were involved in the crash. One male child and one female child were killed, while others sustained different forms of injury in the crash. The injured victims were taken to the General Hospital, Ifo, and the corpses were deposited at the morgue.
“The suspected cause of the crash was excessive speed and overloading. The car was overloaded with passengers.”
Reacting to the incident, the Ogun Sector Commander, Akinwumi Fasakin, described the crash as an avoidable incident if the driver had taken caution in overloading the vehicle.
Fasakin, who spoke through Okpe, noted that the act of overloading vehicles with goods or passengers violated traffic rules.
“The Sector Commander, Ogun Sector Command, Akinwumi Fasakin, condemned the crash and described it as a lack of value for life by the driver and passengers who saw nothing wrong in a car being outrageously overloaded.
“He urged motorists to avoid overloading their vehicles either with goods or passengers, as it is very dangerous to the driver and other road users, and it’s against the traffic rules.
“He further commiserated with the families of the crash victims and wished the injured victims a quick recovery,” Okpe noted.
PUNCH Metro reported on August 23 that a truck crushed two persons to death in the Papalanto area of the state.
According to the spokesman for the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, Babatunde Akinbiyi, the accident happened in the early hours of the day.
Akinbiyi had attributed the cause of the accident which involved an Iveco Truck with number plate KJA 166 XJ and a tricycle with number plate TRE 627 VP, to dangerous driving by the truck driver.
He added that four people including two males and two females were involved in the accident with the two females crushed to death.
