An escort vehicle crushed two commercial tricycles resulting in the death of one woman in a fatal accident around the Government Secondary School on Ilorin-Old Jebba Road, Kwara State.
It was gathered that the accident occurred on Monday, when the driver of the escort vehicle lost control and collided with the tricycles.
According to eyewitness, who did not want to be identified, said three passengers from the two commercial tricycles died at the accident scene.
He said, “A government escort vehicle overrode two tricycles in the crash, which occurred at the Government Secondary School, Fate Junction, along the Ministry of Agric, Ilorin.”
The Police Public Relations officer in the state, SP Ajayi Okasanmi, however, in a statement, said the accident did not record any fatality
Okasanmi said “The accident occurred when the driver of the Hilux van, who was coming from the same direction as the tricycles, lost control and collided with the tricycles, which resulted in a serious crash leading to injuries on Yusuf Kadiri, Hussein Seriki and Latifat Kamarudeen.
“The victims have been taken to UITH Okeoyi, Ilorin, for medical attention and are positively responding to treatment.
“This press statement becomes necessary to correct some erroneous information making the rounds on the health condition of the victims; none of the victims died, and the vehicle involved in the accident belongs to Hillcrest Agro industrial Company, Offa, and not to the police or the government.”
Confirming the incident, the Kwara State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Jonathan Owoade, said two yellow commercial tricycles and one black escort Toyota Hilux were involved in the crash.
According to Owoade, one female adult passenger died and one minor severely injured.
He added that the two victims were rushed to a private hospital near the accident scene, adding that while the female adult gave up the ghost, the minor was undergoing treatment at the hospital.
Angry tricycle riders in the area were said to have demonstrated at the scene, beating up uniform personnel in sight.
“Shortly before our patrol vehicle returned from the hospital, a report was received that a group of tricycle riders were beating up uniform men around and policemen who came for the rescue were shooting to scare them away. The marshals on ground were instructed to leave the scene immediately.
“The angry reaction of the tricycle riders was directed at security personnel because the escort van carrying flashers that crushed the two tricycles was suspected to belong to security outfits. The rescue team could not gather other necessary information because of the tense situation at the crash scene,” Owoade said.