An unidentified man has been reported dead after been crushed to death as a Mercedes Benz car coming from Lagos collided with a stationary truck on the Benin-Lagos expressway, in Ovia North-East Local Government Area of Edo State.
According to reports, the accident which occurred at about 9:30am on Sunday, saw the driver, simply identified as Iyare, driving apparently from the Lagos axis of the road when he suddenly lost control drove the car into the rear of the articulated truck parked on a grass verge.
The victim was said to have been rushed to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, UBTH, Ugbowo, where he was confirmed dead.
However, reports say the truck belonged to the Seven Up Bottling Company. It was reportedly stationed opposite the scene of the fatal accident.
Meanwhile, some residents of the area said that the driver may have been under a hot pursuit by customs officials, as the C class station wagon had no number plates and look quite new.
According to one of the residents, “The vehicle looked like it was coming from Lagos and was being chased by customs officials before it suddenly crashed into the truck. But the truck was not moving before the collision occurred.
“Imagine the impact of the accident. I don’t think he would have survived.”
But it was gathered that some youths who were said to have been bothered by the development, blamed the accident on the parking of the company’s vehicles on both sides of the road and consequently set five of the trucks ablaze.
They were said to have headed for the company premises but fled the scene, following the intervention of the police.
At the scene of the accident, some police officers and officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, tried as much as possible to ensure free vehicular movement.
Smoke also billowed from one of the burnt trucks, while the smell of charred bottles pervaded the air.
A senior police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said no sooner had the driver been taken to UBTH than the youths, suspected to be hoodlums, set some trucks on fire.
The police source said, “As they (youths) brought him out and discovered that he was dead, some took him to hospital. And the next thing was that they besieged the company and set the (company’s) property on fire.
“It took our intervention to prevent them from entering the factory.”
Mr. Ameen Adewale, the Toll Gate Unit Commander of the FRSC, confirming the incident, said the remains of the driver has been deposited in the mortuary, while efforts were being made to remove the damaged vehicle.
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