Yinka Oladoyinbo, Akure - 22.12.2006

An eyewitness said that the two 18-seater commercial buses involved in the accident with registration number XA 419 KTP and XB123 AKR were conveying traders to the market. Only three passengers, including a three-month-old baby whose mother also died, survived the accident.

They were, however, in intensive care at the State Specialist Hospital , Ondo. The Ondo State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Mr. Ahmed Hassan, who confirmed the accident, said that it was due to excessive speeding.

According to him, the drivers of the two vehicles, who also died in the accident, were said to be on top speed when it happened. He said one of the vehicles was trying to overtake another vehicle when it had a head-on collision with the on-coming commercial bus.

Sympathizers and passersby were said to have used cutlass, axe and other sharp objects to cut the vehicles before the trapped bodies of victims could be removed. Hassan added that 11 men and six women, mostly traders, died in the accident, while many of the victims were Igbo traders.

He said the bodies of the victims had already been deposited at the mortuary of the State Specialist Hospital in Ondo. Many Igbo traders trooped to the hospital as the news of the accident reached the town, to identify the bodies of the deceased.

Sympathisers, particularly women, were seen wailing at the hospital. Hassan advised motorists to be careful on the highways and adhere strictly to the highway codes.