No fewer than 19 lives perished on Sunday in a fatal crash on the Okene bypass along Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi State.
The accident involved a Dangote truck with registration number NSH680YJ, and a Toyota Hiace Bus with registration number KMC455ZE; the emergency response team of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) revealed.
The FRSC emergency rescue teams deployed to rescue the victims could not achieve desired results as the efforts they put into the rescue operations was unduly hindered by the fire inferno that engulfed the two vehicles.
The FRSC Public Education Officer, Jonas Agwu, in a statement said “the Toyota Hiace Bus loaded from Kano was on its lane on the highway when the Dangote Truck driver who drove all the way from Portharcourt wrongfully overtook a vehicle and collided head-on with the bus. The impact of the collision resulted in a fire inferno that burnt the victims to death.
“According to the report, the crash which was caused by route violation ‘One Way’ and wrongful overtaking, involved 22 people all male. Unfortunately, 19 people out of the 22 victims were killed and 1 injured. The remaining 2 victims who got rescued by FRSC operatives without injuries survived the crash because they complied with traffic regulations on compulsory use of seatbelt.
“The corpses of the dead victims whose lives were claimed by the crash have been deposited at Okene General Hospital.
The FRSC warned against traffic violations citing instances where they resulted in avoidable crashes with fire outbreak, leading to wanton loss of precious lives and destruction to properties.
The statement further emphasised on the need for maximum penalty for erring drivers, and reaffirmed the resolution of the Corps to continue its ongoing prosecution of drivers who by their actions cause road traffic crashes in Nigeria, noting that the driver of the truck involved in the Okene crash will not be an exception.
