No fewer than nine persons including soldiers on Wednesday lost their lives in separate bus crashes in Bauchi State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that at Panshanu village along the Bauchi-Jos Road in the Toro Local Government Area of the state, five men were burnt beyond recognition in a crash involving two vehicles.
The state Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps, Yusuf Abdullahi, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent said one of the drivers of the vehicles was driving to a destination when one of the tyres of his vehicle burst, causing him to lose control of the vehicle and ram into another vehicle coming from the opposite direction.
He said both vehicles went up in flames due to the impact of the collision, adding that all the occupants of the vehicles were burnt to death.
Abdullahi said, “There was a fatal crash that occurred today, Wednesday, March 29, 2023, at Panshanu village, along Bauchi-Toro-Jos Highway, around 6.25am. It involved two vehicles.
“The two commercial vehicles involved in the crash are a Toyota Hiace Bus with number plate, KGG 26-LG, and a Peugeot J5 Boxer.
“The crash was caused by a tyre burst which led to a loss of control by the driver of one of the vehicles. The two vehicles went up in flames.
“All the five occupants of the two vehicles, male adults, were burnt beyond recognition,” he said.
The FRSC boss said officials of the agency and men of the Nigerian Army rushed to the scene of the crash within five minutes and handed over the burnt corpses and vehicles to the policemen attached to the Toro Division.
“It is very sad and disturbing that we keep losing lives to crashes because of the failure of drivers to adhere to road traffic rules and regulations. I call on them to be more careful while on the road so that we can have a reduction of crashes on our roads.
“On our part as Federal Road Safety Corps in the state, we are doing our best through rigorous and constant campaigns we have been embarking upon at churches, mosques, and motor parks, among others, to sensitise motorists to the dangers of these crashes and the need for them to obey road traffic regulations so that crashes can be reduced to the barest minimum,” Abdullahi said.
In another crash at KM 21, Lago village, along the Darazo-Kari Road, in the Darazo Local Government Area of the state, four soldiers were killed while 13 other persons sustained varying degrees of injury on Wednesday.
Abdullahi, who confirmed the crash that occurred around 1.36pm to our correspondent, said immediately after the agency got the information of the crash, its personnel were mobilised to the scene for a rescue operation.
“They evacuated them to General Hospital, Darazo, for treatment and confirmation. It was at the hospital that four of them were confirmed dead by a medical doctor. The corpses were deposited at the same hospital.
“The remaining 13 of them sustained various degrees of injury including bruises, head injuries and fractures. The crash was caused by a tyre burst.
“The information gathered is that they are Army personnel going to Abuja on an official assignment and some were referred to the Specialist Hospital, Bauchi, for treatment,” Abdullahi said.
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