BY DAUD OLATUNJI

ABEOKUTA — Four persons lost their lives while  several others were critically injured in two separate accidents in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital and Ilaro in Yewa  South Local Government Area of the state.

The first accident, yesterday afternoon, involved members  of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jammat, who were returning to Abeokuta after their three-day  annual congress in Ilaro.

Vanguard gathered that one of the rear tyres of the bus conveying members of the religious sect burst while on high speed, which caused the driver to lose control of the bus. The bus, it was gathered, somersaulted three times, killing the driver on the spot.

When our correspondent visited the state hospital in Ijaye, where the injured were being treated, one of the injured said the incident occurred shortly after the vehicle had left Ibese.

At press time, the exact causality figure remained uncertain, as the dead and the injured were still being conveyed to the hospital.

Vanguard observed that officials of the hospitals hid the identity of the victims from their  relatives who besieged the hospital to ascertain the state of health of their loved ones.