Road Accident Kills 18 People In Ondo State

No less than 19 people died Sunday in a road accident in the state of Ondo in the southwest of Nigeria.

According to witnesses, this is a collision between a 7-seater engine and a truck at 2:00 GMT on the Akure-Owo road in Ondo State, southwestern Nigeria. The truck that came from Owo wanted to avoid a pothole before colliding with the Hummer car. Both machines caught fire before being reduced to ashes.

“The 18 people burnt without a survivor, while the lorry driver and the motor boy ran away to an unknown destination.

“The cause of the accident was as a result of the lorry dogging a pothole when it swerved and had a collision with the bus going to Abuja while coming from Owo. Efforts to trace the fleeing driver of the lorry is ongoing,”  said a witness quoted by Punch.

Femi Joseph, Head of Public Relations in Ondo state confirmed the accident.

Road accidents are common in Nigeria. Last April, for example, 19 people lost their lives and 38 others were injured in a traffic accident in Katsina state in the north-west.

In 2017, a report reported 9,385 road accidents that killed more than 5,100 people across Nigeria.

Observers and experts point to the overload, the non-respect of the highway code and the decay of the tracks.