Eight persons were on Saturday night burnt to death in a lone accident involving a Mazda bus on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. 

Ahmed Umar, a senior road safety official in the area, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abeokuta on Sunday. 

Mr. Umar said the accident, which occurred at about 8:45 p.m. near Saapade flyover, was caused by a tyre burst. The vehicle somersaulted before going up flames, the official said.

At least eleven people were confirmed involved in the lone accident. The victims included three men, one woman, one child and six unidentified persons. 
“The suspected cause of the lone accident involving the Mazda bus marked AAA 249 VX  was tyre burst which led to loss of control before crash and bursting into flames immediately,” Mr. Umar said. A joint rescue operation was later conducted by the road safety and fire service from Sagamu. Those who were rescued alive were taken to nearby hospitals, officials said.

The fatal accident came weeks after a similar crash left one killed and three others critically injured in the same area. In December 2019, five people were killed and nine others injured in a head-on collision on the busy highway.

Officials regularly warned drivers to maintain speed below 80 kilometres per hour, but motorists said the frequent crashes should be blamed more on poorly maintained sections of the road.