19 persons on Sunday lost their lives in an accident at the Gwagwalada-Lokoja Highway Road area of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Federal Road Safety Corps spokesperson, Bisi Kazeem, in a statement, said the acting Corps Marshal, FRSC, Dauda Biu, confirmed the figure when he visited the scene of the accident.
According to him, 19 victims were burnt to death while eight others who sustained injuries during the accident, had been taken to the hospital for treatment.
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He said the accident involved three vehicles including two Toyota Hiace buses with number plates MUB- 30 LG and DWR-985 XJ and an articulated vehicle.
The statement read, “The Toyota Hiace Bus with number plate, MUB- 30 LG, which was on a high speed crashed into a Citroen trailer on motion and immediately went into flames thereby burning the entire occupants of the vehicle to death.
“In the same vein, the second bus also crashed into the crashed bus from behind and also caught fire. One of the Buses was said to have transited all the way from Takai, Kano State, heading to Benin, Edo State.
“While the Citroen trailer loaded with chicken feed from Zaria, Kaduna State was on its way to deliver the commodities in Akwa Ibom State.
“The rescue operations were jointly carried out by the combined teams of Zebra 6 Yangoji and patrol teams of the Nigeria Police Force. The injured victims were rescued and taken to Rhema Hospital, Kwali, while one of the male corpses was deposited at the Kwali General Hospital Mortuary.
“However, the 19 corpses burnt beyond recognition which were trapped in the vehicle have been extricated by rescue operatives of the Zebra 6 Yangoji.”
Biu advised commuters to always avoid excessive speed.
He also admonished commuters to always plan their trips to fall within day time and avoid night trips because of hazards associated with dark hours.
