No fewer than 18 passengers were feared dead, following an auto crash that occurred on Friday at Zakirai town, on Kano-Ringim Road in Gabasawa Local Government Area of Kano State.
The Kano State FRSC Sector Commander, Mr Ibrahim Abdullahi, also said that 12 other passengers suffered varying degrees of injuries in the crash, while five others escaped unhurt,
It was learned that some of the dead in the accident, which involved two commercial vehicles, were given mass burials at the accident scene, while others were handed over to their relatives.
Abdullahi, who made the confirmation in a press statement issued by the sector’s spokesman, Mr. Abdullahi Labaran, said, ”We 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.”
He attributed the accident to excessive speeding, dangerous driving and overloading, which resulted in a head-on collision and the bursting into flames of one of the vehicles.
“The accident involved a total of 35 passengers in two buses, out of which 18 were burnt beyond recognition, while 12 others suffered varying degrees of serious injuries,’’ he said.
Ibrahim, who disclosed that the injured victims were rushed to the Murtala Mohammed General Hospital, Kano, advised motorists to avoid speeding, overloading, wrongful overtaking, dangerous driving and any infraction that could lead to road crashes.
Also, the sector commander expressed regret at the magnitude of avoidable road crashes recorded in Kano State in the past week.
According to him, during a visit to the crash scene on Saturday, he warned motorists, particularly intercity and inter-state drivers, to desist from overloading, excessive speeding, wrongful overtaking and other traffic violations.
However, Abdullahi assured that the FRSC would intensify public enlightenment campaigns as well as undertake stringent patrol interventions, including the operation of mobile courts, to curb the rising trend of fatal intercity auto crashes.
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