3 Killed As Vehicle Plunges Into River In Ibadan

Three men were killed and one person
injured on Monday in Ibadan when an
articulated vehicle plunged off the Soka
bridge on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. The driver of the vehicle marked XA 626
KDG had swerved off the road while
trying to avoid ramming into a Sport
Utility Vehicle (SUV) from the rear. Confirming the incident, the Oluyole Unit
Commander of the Federal Road Safety
Commission (FRSC), Mr Sanya Adeoye,
said the driver of the SUV sped off as
soon as the incident happened. “It was not the fault of the articulated
vehicle driver. “He was trying to avoid ramming into
the SUV due to the bad portion of the
road. “Unfortunately, the articulated vehicle
went off the bridge and into the river
killing three of the four occupants. “We have recovered and deposited the
bodies of the three men at the mortuary
of Adeoyo State Hospital, Ring Road,
Ibadan. “The injured person is receiving
treatment at the Ibadan Central
Hospital, Ososami area of Ibadan,” he
told NAN. [NAN]

Truck Crushes Mother Of Five To Death In Abuja

A 39 year-old mother of five, Deaconess
Ngozi Ike, met her untimely death in Abuja
while she rode on a commercial motorcycle,
popularly called okada on her way back to
her shop at village market where she sold
Nigerian prints and Hollandis. She was said to be returning to her shop on
Okada around 12 noon when, she, like many
others at the scene, sighted an articulated
vehicle, with the driver and his conductor
shouting, ‘brake failure, brake failure’, for
everyone to clear from the road. Mrs Ike panicked and jumped from the
Okada, according to eyewitnesses. Without
stopping, the Okada rider zoomed off
unhurt, but Ngozi lost her balance while
trying to run, and fell on the verge of the
road where the trailer met her. The trailer, with number plate XV 245 EPE,
crushed her and went further to ram into
other vehicles parked around. Sympathizers
who picked up her phone from the scene
informed Mrs Ngozi’s husband, who with
other family members rushed to the scene of the accident. An eyewitness said the trailer was sighted
from Arab Road Junction heading towards
Byazhin Road in Kubwa. The eyewitness confirmed to Vanguard that
the driver of the trailer and his assistant
indeed kept shouting, ‘brake failure; brake
failure,’ to warn people to clear off the road
but that could not save the housewife from
being crushed. Another eye witness, who said he was a member of the same church
with Ngozi, said the deceased’s junior
sister, identified as Lilian, had premonition
of an imminent death in the family though
the dream did not zero-in on the victim. Six of the cars smashed by the articulated
vehicle were damaged beyond repairs while
two others were badly dented. All the
vehicles were parked on the verge of the
road while some of the owners have their
workshops just by the scene of the accident. One of the vehicle owners, Mr
Ambrose Bello, kept thanking God for
saving his life. Bello said he parked his
vehicle in front of his workshop when he
heard noise outside and rushed out to see
what was happening only to see his car crushed by the trailer. When Vanguard visited the home of the Ike
family, it was under lock and key as the
entire family was said to have had travelled
to Obiaruku, Delta State, the deceased’s
home town, for her burial. Family friend of the Ikes for 13 years, Elder
and Mrs Alizor Chuks, said Mrs Ike visited
them on August 7while they also saw her on
August 9, when she was returning from
Kubwa village market. That was the last they
saw of her before Mr Ike called them to break the sad news of her death on that
Saturday. Mrs Alizor said Ngozi Ike was a peace loving
and jovial friend since she they became
friends in 2000 and that both families
worship in Christ Chosen Church of God as
senior members. According to Elder Alizor, when Elder Ike
informed his late wife’s family about the
death of their daughter, her family insisted
that they must see the remains in Obiaruku,
warning that she must not be buried in
Abuja or anywhere else. The Ike family traveled to Obiaruku on
August 11 to bury the remains of Dns Ike
who om death snapped away at her prime.

17 Dead After Ferry Collided With Cargo Ship Off Philippines

At least 17 people died while nearly 600
others were rescued after a ferry Collision of a ferry with a cargo ship in the
Philippines on Friday killed 17 people, while
nearly 600 others were rescued, authorities
said. The Thomas Aquinas ferry, which was
believed to be carrying about 700
passengers, sank quickly after colliding with
a freighter near the port of Cebu, the
country’s second biggest city, coastguard
spokesman Commander Armando Balilo said. A rescue mission involving coastguard, navy
and local boats was launched immediately
after the collision which occurred about
9pm (1300 GMT) around two kilometres
from shore. “The Aquinas has sunk and we have sent a
navy patrol gunboat to join the coastguard
in the search and rescue effort,” navy
spokesman Lieutenant Commander Gregory
Fabic told AFP. Within about three hours of the accident,
rescuers had saved 573 people but 17
people were confirmed killed, Joy Villages,
an official at the coastguard’s public affairs
office headquarters in Manila, told AFP. “Those rescued are with the coastguard and
with other vessels who helped in the
effort.” However she said it was still unclear how
many people were missing. There were 692 people on board, according
to the manifest, but ferries in the
Philippines are often overcrowded. “We are still checking the manifest as to
how many exactly are aboard,” Villages said. Rachel Capuno, a security officer for the
ferry’s owners, told Cebu radio station DYSS
that the ship was sailing into port when it
collided head-on with the cargo ship. “The impact was very strong,” she said,
adding that the ferry sank within 30
minutes of the collision. Cebu coastguard commander Weniel
Azcuna told reporters the accident occurred
about two kilometres from the Cebu port. He said the cargo ship, Sulpicio Express 7,
had 36 crew members on board, but it did
not sink. Ferries are one of the main modes of
transport across the archipelago of more
than 7,100 islands, particularly for the
millions of people too poor to fly. But sea accidents are common, with poor
safety standards, lax enforcement and
overloading typically to blame.