Okene Bypass Fatal Crash Claims 19 Lives in Gory Fire, FRSC Rescue Team Discloses

* Tinubu, wife, NGF mourn victims of Rivers tanker fire

Deji Elumoye, Kasim Sumaina in Abuja and Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

Emergency rescue teams of the Federal Road Safety Corps, has said it endured another over three hours of inferno in its bid to rescue road traffic victims at the scene of a fatal crash that claimed 19 lives, yesterday, April 28, at Okene bypass, on the Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi State.
This was as President Bola Tinubu, his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), have sympathised with the government and people of Rivers State over a recent fire incident that killed several people.

Rivers State had Friday night witnessed a disastrous tanker inferno, which claimed many lives and razed over 120 vehicles on the Indorama-Aleto bridge axis of the East-West Road in Eleme Local Government Area, undergoing reconstruction by the federal government.
However, the FRSC team deployed to rescue the Okene victims noted they could not achieve desired results as the efforts they put into the operations was unduly hindered by the fire that engulfed the two vehicles.

A statement in Abuja by Assistant Corps Marshal, Corps Public Education Officer, FRSC, Jonas Agwu, disclosed that the crash investigation report revealed that the crash involved 2 vehicles comprising a Dangote Truck bearing the following registration details NSH680YJ, and a Toyota Hiace Bus with registration number KMC455ZE.

The Toyota Hiace Bus, the statement stated, loaded from Kano and was on its lane on the highway when the Dangote Truck driver who drove all the way from Port Harcourt wrongfully overtook a vehicle and collided head-on with the bus.
“The impact of the collision resulted in a fire inferno that burnt the victims to death.”
The report also revealed that the crash which was caused by route violation ‘One Way’ and wrongful overtaking, involved 22 people all male.
“Unfortunately, 19 people out of the 22 victims were killed and 1 injured. The remaining 2 victims who got rescued by FRSC operatives without injuries survived the crash because they complied with traffic regulations on compulsory use of seatbelt.

“The corpses of the dead victims whose lives were claimed by the crash have been deposited at Okene General Hospital,” it stated.
Meanwhile, President Tinubu has extended his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the weekend fire incident caused by an articulated vehicle conveying petroleum product at the Eleme section of the East-West Road in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Commiserating with the government and people of Rivers State on this tragedy, which resulted in the loss of lives and property, the president, in a release yesterday by his Media Adviser, Ajuri Ngelale, prayed for the speedy recovery of those injured in the incident.
Tinubu also directed federal agencies in the state to continue liaising with the state government to provide the much-needed immediate support to all victims of the incident.

He commended the first responders in Rivers for their bravery and dedication in assisting those affected by the accident, and expressed confidence that stricter safety regulations for the transportation of petroleum products would be implemented to prevent such tragedies in  future.
On her part, wife of the president, Senator Tinubu, in a one-page condolence message personally signed stated: “My heartfelt condolences go out to Governor of Rivers State, HE Siminalayi Fubara, the families of those who lost loved ones in the horrific petroleum tanker explosion in Rivers State, and the entire community affected by this tragedy.

“Losing lives in such a sudden and devastating way is heartbreaking. My thoughts and prayers are with those who are grieving this immense loss. May God grant the souls of the departed eternal rest.”

Also, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) has called for a safer method of transportation of Petroleum products across the country.

Chairman of the forum, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, made the call yesterday, during his visit at the Government House, Port Harcourt, to commiserate with Fubara, the people and Government of Rivers State over the incident which happened last Friday.

AbdulRazaq  said discussions were advancing among the governors and strategic federal agencies in the oil and gas industry over the adoption of the safer methods of transportation of petroleum products.

AbdulRazaq, who is also the Governor of Kwara State, recalled a similar carnage in Ogun State, caused by a tanker conveying compressed natural gas (CNG) that impacted lives.

He described what happened in Rivers State as a huge loss, and said his meeting with Fubara availed them the opportunity to have peer review discussions over the recurring decimal.