At least five individuals have been confirmed dead, with 10 others critically injured, following two separate road accidents along the Benin-Asaba Highway on Tuesday night.
The incidents occurred in the Issele-Uku and Onicha-Ugbo areas of the route.
According to eyewitness accounts, one of the accidents involved a Sienna minivan, which reportedly lost control while speeding.
The vehicle veered off the road and somersaulted several times, resulting in multiple casualties.
“It happened around 7:40 pm when the vehicle was speeding, lost control, and flipped several times. The driver, a man, died instantly, while his wife and two children were injured and rushed to the hospital,” an eyewitness recounted.
This crash tragically claimed the lives of four passengers, including a family of four, while others sustained varying degrees of injuries.
The second incident, also involving a vehicle, left one person dead and several others injured.
Speaking about the accidents on Wednesday, Delta State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Mr. Fredrick Ogidan, confirmed the incidents.
“Yes, the crashes occurred. In the first accident, one person died, and five others were rescued. One victim was taken to our clinic, and the others were rushed to a hospital in Issele-Uku. In the second accident, four persons died, but we managed to rescue five survivors,” he said.
Ogidan highlighted excessive speed and driver fatigue as the primary causes of the accidents, emphasizing that these factors are often overlooked.
“Many drivers do multiple trips for financial gain, and this leads to exhaustion. While the road conditions are fine, fatigue and speed are major causes of these accidents,” he stated.
He further commended the prompt response of his team, attributing the survival of several victims to their swift action.
“Thank God for our swift action; had it not been for our intervention, more lives could have been lost. First aid was administered at our clinic before the victims were transferred to the hospital,” Ogidan remarked.
