One person was reported dead and 21 other passengers sustained critical injuries on Sunday when herd of cattle crossing Ife-Ilesa Expressway caused an accident involving a Marcopolo luxury bus.

It was gathered that the accident, which occurred around 11.00a.m. triggered traffic along the expressway, forcing motorists and commuters travelling along the axis to halt their journey for almost an hour.

According to an eyewitness, “the driver of the luxury bus was struggling to avoid crushing a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), after the driver of the SUV sighted cows crossing the expressway and swerved to the right.”

He further hinted that “in an attempt to avoid crushing the SUV, the driver of the luxury bus, marked SMK 667 XR lost control of the vehicle which eventually somersaulted.”

When contacted, the head of operations, Ife Unit of the Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Odogiyan Aderibigbe confirmed the incident occurred around Osu section of the highway, He said some policemen and soldiers joined the FRSC officials in the rescue operation, especially the passengers trapped in the bus.

“The Marcopolo luxury bus was coming from Kaduna and heading for Lagos when the accident occurred. There were 69 passengers in the bus and 21 of them were injured.”

“When the bus finally fell on its side, three of the passengers were trapped under the bus. They were pulled out, but one of them died. The injured passengers were taken to the emergency unit of Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTHC), Ile-Ife, for treatment,” Aderibigbe remarked. (Vanguard)