About 16 persons were reportedly burnt to death in a lone accident involving a Mazda bus at the Buhari Estate axis on the Abeokuta-Sagamu Expressway on Tuesday.

The Spokesperson for the Federal Road Safety Corps in Ogun State, Florence Okpe, made the disclosure in a statement in Abeokuta.

Mrs Okpe said that the accident which occurred at about 1:00p.m, involved a Mazda bus marked KJA 949 YJ.

The FRSC spokesperson said that the accident was caused by a fire outbreak in the vehicle, explaining that the vehicle also had a filled gas cylinder in it, which led to explosion.

She added that 21 people were involved in the accident, 16 died with three sustaining varying degrees of injury.

“The genders of the victims could not be ascertained at the scene because they were burnt beyond recognition. A total of 16 people were killed in the crash while three sustained varying degrees of injurys,” she said.

Mrs Okpe added that the injured victims were taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Idi Aba, Abeokuta, while the corpses were still at the scene waiting for evacuation.

“The state Sector Commander, Akinwumi Fasakin, quickly moved to the crash scene with his team for rescue operation but he was not pleased with the occurrence. The driver should have objected to carrying a cylinder filled with gas,” she said.

She advised motorists that highly flammable items should be transported with care and by designated vehicles driven by trained drivers only.

Mrs Okpe urged motorists and passengers to always put safety first.

(NAN)