33 die as sleeping driver plunges bus into river

The long medium range luxury bus still remained drowned at the point of entry to the river but the three survivors that included a pregnant woman who hung between a tree branches have been rescued.
The Unit Commander, Ijebu – Ode Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps(FRSC), Seidu Isah Osilama said the FRSC operative arrived at the scene of the accident few minutes after it occurred.
He added they were able to rescue the three survivors, saying they fell off the bus and landed on tree.
He, therefore, said rescue effort would require the crane and divers to ascertain the location of the bus and the passengers inside the water.
According to him, no one knows the exact numbers of passengers in the bus or the casualty figure as they are still in the water.
The FRSC confirmed that the driver of the vehicle slept off the wheel, disclosing that the vehicle plunged into J4 River thereby making rescue difficult for the FRSC.
Mr Osilama said the option left was to make use of local divers, saying the local divers were mobilized to search the river for rescue of survivals while a crane was on ground from Omo Wood industries to pull out the vehicle from the river.
He added all effort to locate the vehicle in the river proved abortive while the divers became tired to continue, saying that the crane was called to report back to office by 6pm.

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