A tragic road accident in Kano State during the weekend reportedly claimed the lives of at least eighteen people.
The state command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) asserted that the accident was caused by excessive speeding, dangerous driving and overloading.
Truetells Nigeria learnt that the incident, which happened on Friday at Zakirai town on Kano-Ringim Road in Gabasawa Local Government Area of Kano State, involved two vehicles colluding head-to-head.
Twelve other persons from the vehicles reportedly sustained degrees of injuries, while five escaped unhurt.
The FRSC Sector Commander in the state, Ibrahim Abdullahi, confirmed the incident to newsmen, noting that some corpses were given mass burial at the accident scene while others were handed over to their relatives.
In a statement issued through the sector’s spokesman, Abdullahi Labaran, Abdullahi noted that the commission “received a call about the accident at about 8:35 p.m. on Friday and dispatched our personnel to the scene to rescue the victims.
“The accident involved a total of 35 passengers in two buses, out of which 18 were burnt beyond recognition while 12 others sustained serious injuries,” he said.
He explained further that the injured victims were taken to Murtala Mohammed General Hospital, Kano. Abdullahi advised motorists to avoid overspeeding, overloading, wrongful overtaking, dangerous driving and any infraction that could lead to road crashes.
The sector commander expressed regret at the magnitude of avoidable road crashes recorded in Kano State in the past week.
During a visit to the crash scene on Saturday, he warned motorists, particularly intercity and inter-state drivers, to avoid overloading, excessive speeding, wrongful overtaking, and other traffic violations.
Abdullahi assured that the FRSC would intensify public enlightenment and undertake stringent patrol interventions, including the operation of mobile courts to stem the rising tide of intercity auto crashes.
