by Isi Esene
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has recovered 12 bodies out of the 21 passengers believed to have drowned in the Coaster bus which skidded-off the bridge and plunged into the river around J4 area of the Sagamu-Ore expressway in Ogbere in Ogun State.
The bodies were recovered on Saturday through the concerted efforts of several traffic and safety agencies in the state like the FRSC, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), Nigeria Police Force, and the Red Cross society.
The driver of the Coaster bus was reported to have slept on the wheels while on a journey to a burial at Uronigbe in Oriohwon local government area of Edo State.
Witnesses say three passengers survived the accident having being thrown out of the vehicle before it made its fateful plunge into the river and got swept away.
Issa Seidu , the Ijebu-Ode unit commander of the FRSC said he got the information from one of the survivors that the passengers that boarded the bus were 21, including the driver.
He said, “It is a clear case of over speeding on the part of the driver of the bus. If you look at the distance from which the bus ran into the river, which is about a kilometer away, it shows that the driver was on a terrible speed.
"It clearly shows that the driver was on a suicide mission. Although we don't know the actually number of people in the bus, one of the survivors said they were 21 in number. In all we were able to recovered 12 bodies and rescued three,” he said.
Families of the victims who were at the scene of the rescue operation were in deep pain.
