Eleven people escaped death by a whisker on Wednesday after a Honda CR-V Sport Utility Vehicle ran into an 18-seater commercial bus on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The accident occurred close to the headquarters of Punch Nigeria Limited in Magboro, Ogun State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the commercial bus, with number plate, GGE-725XR, was conveying seven passengers to Ketu, Lagos.
The driver had parked by the roadside to pick another passenger when the speeding Honda SUV, with number plate, EPE-251EH, rammed into it.
The impact lifted the bus off the ground before it landed on its side.
The driver of the SUV reportedly hit his face against the steering, sustaining injuries, while some of the passengers in the commercial bus also sustained varying degrees of injury and were rushed to a hospital.
One of the bus passengers, Mr. Fato Richard, said, “The bus driver had parked to pick a passenger when we heard a loud bang. The SUV had hit us. Within a few seconds, our bus tumbled.
“We were able to make use of the available windows of the bus to crawl out. I boarded the bus at Asese, Ogun State, and I was going to Ketu, Lagos. But right now, I’m going back home.”
The bus conductor, simply identified as Afeez, who was also among the injured, blamed the driver of the Honda SUV for the accident.
He said, “As the driver parked and I wanted to open the door for a passenger to get in, we were hit from behind.
“It appeared like the driver of the SUV was sleeping because if he were not, he would have seen our bus. We were not on the road. He veered off to where we were.”
By the time PUNCH Metro got to the scene, the driver of the Honda SUV with the three other occupants had boarded a taxi to a hospital.
The injured passengers of the commercial bus were also taken for treatment with the help of officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps and some policemen who arrived at the scene a few minutes after the incident.
Ther spokesperson for the Ogun State Police Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said he would get back to PUNCH Metro.
However, he had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.
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