By Ola ‘Kiya, Reporting
THE Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), says 19 persons perished in an avoidable fatal Dangote truck-induced road crash on Sunday at Okene Bypass, on the deadly Okene-Lokoja Highway in Kogi State, Nigeria.
FRSC spokesperson, ACM Jonas Agwu, explained how his men faced obstacles in their rescue attempts.
He said the agency’s emergency rescue teams deployed to rescue the victims could not achieve desired results after three hours as the efforts they put into the rescue operations were unduly hindered by the inferno that engulfed the two vehicles.
Revealing details on the crash, Agwu said it involved two vehicles consisting of a Dangote truck bearing with Registration Number NSH680YJ, and a Toyota Hiace Bus with Registration Number KMC455ZE.
The Toyota Hiace Bus, he added, was loaded from Kano and 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 had a head-on with the bus.
The impact of the collision, he said, resulted in an inferno that burnt the 19 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.
