Four persons were crushed to death Saturday in Ibadan when a tipper truck conveying sharp sand reported suffered break failure along the Moniya-Iseyin road, Ibadan.
At least ten persons also suffered varying degree of injuries while five motorcycles and three tricycles were destroyed beyond repair.
The victims include, a motorcycle operator, a woman, an underage boy and a trader at the Moniya Butcher market, Ibadan.
Sunday Nation gathered that while all the victims met their misfortune at the point of doing business, the underage boy was said to be on errand to purchase vegetables at the market.
Save for the woman who died while being rushed to the hospital by members of the public who stormed the scene of the accident, the other victims died before the dust settled.
The driver of the tipper was said to have escape from the scene of the incident unhurt.
Sources around the scene of the incident told Sunday Nation that the casualty figure would have been higher if not for a member of the transport union unit at the Moniya garage, who saw the haphazard manner with which the truck was descending the hilly road and who immediately alerted people to scramble to safety.
According to the source, the tipper driver was seen struggling to gain control of the truck which was suspected to have left a tipper garage within the Moniya axis with the load of sand, but the bad situation of the road did not help matters.
Chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers, (Motorcycle), Moniya Garage Unit, Mr. Idris Oladoja described the incident as a sad development that could have been averted.
Confirming the causality figure, Oladoja said the portholes on the road as well as its narrowness contributed to the number accident urging the government to come to the aid of the road users in the axis.
His counterpart at the tricycle unit, Mr. Femi Adeniyi said he was the one who saw how the tipper was wavering in its movement while descending the hilly but rough road while it was about 200 metres away.
He said despite his screaming and shouting that the motorcycles and tricycles parked by the side of the road be cleared, the noise from the environment and vehicular movement made it difficult for some people to get the message on time, after which the tipper swerved into the butcher market.
Men of the police force from nearby Moniya Divisional headquarters and Ojoo were seen at the scene maintaining traffic flow and law and other.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Oyo State Command, SP Adekunle Ajisebutu said two people were confirmed dead and their corpses deposited at the State Hospital, Mortuary, Ringroad, Ibadan for autopsy.
The police spokesperson also added that the erring driver of the tipper has been arrested and the accident vehicle recovered to the station for VIO inspection.
His response reads: “Two victims confirmed dead. Their corpses have been deposited at the State Hospital, Mortuary, Ring Road, Ibadan for autopsy.
“The erring driver has been arrested, and the accident vehicle recovered to the station for VIO inspection. Investigation is ongoing”
