Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), said 19 persons were killed in a fatal road crash yesterday at Okene bypass, on the Okene-Lokoja Highway in Kogi State.
FRSC spokesperson, ACM Jonas Agwu, said the agency’s emergency rescue teams deployed to rescue the victims could not achieve desired results after three hours rescue attempts as the efforts they put into the rescue operations were unduly hindered by the inferno that engulfed the two vehicles.
The crash investigation report revealed that the crash involved two vehicles consisting of a Dangote truck bearing the following registration details NSH680YJ, and a Toyota Hiace Bus with registration number KMC455ZE.
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 Port Harcourt 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 males.
“Unfortunately, 19 people of the 22 victims were killed and one injured. The remaining two 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 stated.
Recall that the corps marshal during his press conference on Thursday last week drew the attention of road users to issues of imbibing moral and ethical rebirth, which have become a major issue in the country. He warned against traffic violations citing instances where they resulted in avoidable crashes with fire outbreaks, leading to wanton loss of precious lives and destruction to properties.
