At least 19 people died in a road crash along Oyo-Ogbomoso Road in Oyo on Sunday, the Federal Road Safety Corps has said.
Corps Public Education Officer, Jonas Agwu, who is an Assistant Corps Marshal, confirmed the development in a statement in Abuja.
Mr Agwu said that the crash involved two vehicles, a Toyota Hiace Bus registered as NTT52ZY, loaded from Ibadan en route Sokoto, and a Toyota Corolla saloon car.
He said that the crash, which occurred at about 07:45 a.m was due to route violation, referred to in local parlance as ‘one way.’
He also said that the act was a traffic violation that resulted in a head-on collision and fire outbreak.
According to him, the report indicated that the crash, which was caused by route violation, involved 20 people, all male adults.
He said, “Of this number, 19 persons were killed while the only surviving victim was rescued by FRSC operatives with injuries. The FRSC rescue team that conducted the rescue operations have taken the injured victim to Opabode hospital in Oyo, for emergency medical attention. The dead bodies have been deposited at Oyo General Hospital morgue.’’
Mr Agwu quoted the Corps Marshal, Dauda Ali Biu, as calling on motorists to avoid incidents that could lead to road crashes.
He also directed sector commanders to increase patrol operations to address the menace of route violation on the nation’s highways.
(NAN)