By Simon Ebegbulem

BENIN-ELEVEN persons, including a little baby and the mother, lost their lives, Monday, on the Ore axis of Benin-Lagos road in an accident involving a luxurious bus and an 18-seater Hilux commercial bus.

The accident, which occurred at about 10am, was as a result of alleged recklessness by the luxurious bus driver who drove against traffic on a portion of the road recently rehabilitated by Federal Ministry of Works.

It was learnt that the driver of the bus with number plate XU 824 BDG, according to eyewitnesses, rammed into the Hiace bus with number plate XZ 176 JJJ. The 11 passengers died on the spot.

The bus, said to be coming from one of the Eastern states, was in the course of overtaking other vehicles when the accident happened. It was learnt that the luxurious bus, which took off from Lagos was heading to Onitsha.

When newsmen visited the spot few hours after the accident, no fewer than three corpses were counted, including that of a woman who still clung to her dead baby.

Operatives of Federal Roads Safety Commission, FRSC, were seen making efforts to remove the trapped remains of other victims from the wrecked bus.

An eyewitness, Mr. Nwado, blamed the luxury bus driver for the accident. FRSC officials refused to comment on the accident. They claimed they would not want to be disturbed while trying to move the corpses to the mortuary.

However, a police officer at a nearby check point blamed both drivers who, according to him, failed to drive safely. He said: “When we tell some of them, they begin to abuse us.”