5 year-old girl dies, 9 passengers sustain injuries in bus fire

A five-year old girl died on Sunday on Iwo Road, Ibadan, when a bus in which she was travelling with other nine passengers caught fire.

Mrs Olayinka Olunike, a senior officer of the Oyo State Fire Service, said the bus caught fire when it ran on the petrol spilled by a tanker involved in an accident.

She told newsmen that while other occupants of the bus, marked LAGOS XL 648 GGE, escaped with injuries, the girl got trapped and died.

Olunike, however, blamed motorists and onlookers for not heeding the advice of the service in the event of fire outbreak.

“This would not have happened if they had taken to our warning because we warn motorists and motorcyclists to desist from driving on any spillage but they would not listen.

“We were in control of the spillage for about two hours before the bus came and ignited the fire with its exhaust pipe; it was the fire from the bus that eventually ignited the tanker,” she said.

According to her, the fire has been properly extinguished but the Fire Service would be at alert until the fuel in the tanker is decanted.

“The spillage was caused by one of the three tanks of the tanker marked KANO XF 380 DAL and we are at alert until the fuel in the two other tanks is decanted,’’ Olunike said. (NAN)