By Reuben Daba

There is a time for everything and a season for every purpose. Sometimes, it seems though that seasons clash. How else can one explain how an occasion meant for merriment – a wedding – could so easily turn to gloom as no fewer than 20 of the wedding guests reportedly died in an auto-crash?

The incident occurred on Saturday at Ototo village between Paramount FM Radio Station and Police Computer Village along Kobape-Abeokuta at about 7.30am.

According to a report:

The accident  was reportedly caused by a truck with registration number, Lagos,  JJJ 489XB, which allegedly veered off  its lane and rammed into a fully loaded Hiace passengers bus conveying the victims. It was gathered that the victims, all members of the African Church
Solution Camp, Ewang Estate, Abeokuta, had  left for Lagos to attend a wedding ceremony of one of their members when tragedy struck.

The driver of the truck  was said to have lost control and killed the bus passengers. Many of the victims, according to an eye witness account, died on the spot following the impact of the
collision, while others died in hospital.

Two infants, including a two-year- old, were said to be among the victims. An eye witness claimed the survivors were taken to a state hospital for treatment.

Ogun State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mr. Ayobami
Omiyale, confirmed the accident,but said only nine died. He however said that sympathisers took some corpses away before rescue team arrived the scene. Also, the coordinator of the Ogun State traffic management outfit, TRACE, at the scene, Sola Bamidele,  said the accident was
caused by the truck driver. Bamidele pointed out that  the passengers took off from Abeokuta less than 30 minutes before  the auto crash occured.

He added that the body (TRACE) was still trying to get in touch with the transport company which owned the ill-fated bus to get the manifest of the passengers.

When Sunday Vanguard visited the State Hospital Ijaye, where the victims were allegedly taken, worried relations were seen, asking for the victims whereabouts. A doctor coordinating Ogun State Ambulance Services,  Hassan Adelakun, said some of the victims died at the scene of incident while others died at the hospital.

Adelakun added that some of the victims corpses  were deposited at State Hospital while others were taken to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Idi-Aba,  Abeokuta.

Meanwhile, at the African Church Solution Camp, which the victims attended, members wore a pensive mood when Sunday Vanguard visited the place last night.