Family Of Four Dies On Christmas Eve In Auto Crash, As Chickens Survive The Accident

Four members of the same family– a
father, mother and their two kids– have been crushed to death by a truck laden
with bags of rice. The accident was said to have
happened along the Iwo-Ibadan Road in Osun State, according to Punch.

A passenger in a commercial bus,
who witnessed the accident, told our correspondent in Osogbo on Sunday that Mr.
and Mrs. Olumide Bankole; their children, Sharon and Shama, were crushed to
death by the truck which lost control in an attempt to avoid running into a
queue of vehicles on the road due to a police checkpoint.

The eyewitness, who identified
himself as Leke Okunola, said rescuers at the scene learnt that the family was
traveling from Ogbomoso in Oyo State to Ibadan when the accident occurred
around Odo Oba River on Christmas Eve.

He said the car in which the
Bankoles were travelling was coming from Iwo and heading towards Ibadan, while
the truck was coming from Ibadan.

The eyewitness blamed the accident
on the police checkpoint, saying if the road block was not there, the accident
would have been avoided.

Okunola said, “The car in which
the victims were travelling was coming from the opposite direction and after
the police had checked him, he moved, but a trailer which was loaded with bags
of rice lost control and fell on the car.

“The truck was on top speed. The
driver saw a long queue of vehicles caused by the police checkpoint. The driver
did not want to ram into the vehicles on the queue and veered off the lane.
That was when the car was cleared to go.

“The driver of the car saw the
truck and drove into the bush. The truck driver, however, lost control and fell
on the car.

“The driver of the car, his wife and
two children, including a baby, were all dead by the time they were rescued
from under the truck.”

He added that the victims were
trapped under the truck for close to five hours before their mangled bodies
were removed by rescuers.

A lady, who was said to have been
given a free ride by the family, was said to have survived, but her hand was
reportedly chopped while being pulled out from the wreckage.

Okunola added that some chickens
inside the boot of the car survived the tragic accident and flew out when
rescuers opened the boot.

The Chairman of the Non Academic
Staff Union at the Osun State University, Mr. Isaiah Fayemi, who is an in-law
to the Bankoles, said the family had been thrown into deep mourning since the
accident happened.

He called on the Inspector General
of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, and the Commissioner of Police in Osun State, Mr.
Abubakar Marafa, to investigate the cause of the accident and punish whoever
was found culpable.

Fayemi said, “I learnt that the
accident was caused by a police checkpoint. We will involve our lawyer in the
case. We want the police to investigate the cause of the accident. I was told
that two policemen had been arrested for the tragedy.”

The Police Public Relations
Officer in Osun State, Mrs. Folasade Odoro, said investigation into the matter
was ongoing.

Also, the Sector Commander of the
Federal Road Safety Corps in Osun State, Mr. Mohammed Hussein, said the
accident did not happen within his area of jurisdiction.

He said that the area where the
accident happened fell under the jurisdiction of the Mokola Unit in Oyo State.