Five children, 14 others die in Kogi auto crash

The Federal Road Safety Corps on Monday confirmed that no fewer than 19 persons died and eight others were injured in an auto crash which occurred on Sunday along the Lokoja-Obajana Road.

The state Sector Commander of the corps, Mr Kumar Tsukwam, confirmed this to newsmen in Lokoja, the state capital.

Tsukwam said that some of the survivors sustained bruises, cuts, dislocations, fractures, and fire burns.

He said that the fatal accident occurred at the Gadabiu community along the Lokoja-Obajana Road in the Lokoja Local Government Area of the state around 4 pm on Sunday.

He revealed that among the 19 burnt to death were five children.

According to him, the fatal accident involved an articulated vehicle (truck) and a Toyota Hummer bus heading to Abuja from the south.

He said that it was a head-on collision when the bus, on high speed, tried to overtake an articulated vehicle, only to face an oncoming articulated vehicle with no option.

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“It was very unfortunate, because it was caused by speeding and wrongful overtaking and involved 27 persons with only eight survivors.

“Our rescue operation team and the police were able to rescue the eight survivors and rushed them to Fisayo Hospital, Obajana, for immediate medical attention,” he said.

The commander said that the highways were not race roads and appealed to motorists to avoid speeding and wrongful overtaking.

He also tasked motorists to always keep to traffic rules and regulations to help the corps and the Federal Government in reducing road traffic crashes and carnage on roads across the country.