TRAGEDY: 18 die in Jigawa road crash

No fewer than 18 persons died in an accident involving a tipper and a J5 bus on Gumel-Gugunju road in Gumel Local Government Area of Jigawa.

The Sector Commander of the Federal Roads Safety Corps in the state, Angus Ibezim, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse on Saturday.

Mr. Ibezim said the driver of the tipper with Reg. No. XY 744 GRK abandoned the vehicle on the road after it broke down.

He explained that the driver of the bus hit the truck from behind, which resulted in the mishap.

He said 15 of the occupants of the vehicle, including the driver, died on the spot while three others sustained injuries.

According to the sector commander, the other three passengers in the bus later died in hospital.

He said the command had begun investigation to ascertain the main cause of the accident.

“We are now trying to find out the main cause of the accident.

“The first thing we suspect is that the driver of the tipper did not place any caution sign to indicate that the vehicle was faulty.

“Secondly, we also suspect that the driver of the J5 bus was speeding or has bad or no headlights at all,” Mr. Ibezim said.

He said the corps had already removed the broken down vehicle from the road to avoid a recurrence of the ugly incident.

The sector commander added that the command had launched a man-hunt to apprehend the driver of the tipper now at large, saying “the driver will surely be prosecuted”.

Mr. Ibezim advised motorists to desist from speeding under whatever circumstances.

(NAN)