Scores of commuters were on Thursday feared trapped in an accident involving a truck and an intercity bus in Ile-Ife, Osun State, along the Ife/Ibadan Expressway.
The spokesperson for Osun Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Kehinde Adeleke, whose agency was among the first security agencies to arrive at the scene, said about 17 people were in the bus when the accident occurred.
Adeleke said security agencies that deployed operatives to the scene, were working to evacuate those trapped, adding that some of those that had been evacuated sustained serious injury and had been taken to hospitals in Ife for treatment.
She also said the vehicle wreckage would be recovered from the scene for further investigation.
“A gas-laden truck rammed into an intra-city bus popularly called Sabo-Lagere today Thursday, September 12, 2024 at the Old Toll Gate Area, along Ife-Ibadan Expressway very close to Ife Grand Resorts and Industrial Hub around 12:45hours.
“According to eyewitness accounts of the fatal accident, the gas-laden truck lost control and rammed into the bus conveying about 17 commuters.
“First responders such as operatives of Federal Road Safety Corps, the police and NSCDC are making frantic efforts to evacuate those trapped. Others who were seriously injured were being conveyed to hospital.
“Efforts are being made as well to tow the wreckage of the vehicle from the scene of the accident,” Adeleke said in a statement sent to our correspondent.