New Telegraph

Tragedy: 29 die in auto crashes in Kogi, Edo states

At least, 29 persons lost their lives in two separate auto crashes in Kogi and Edo states on Thursday. The Koji accident occurred along Ayingba-Ajaokuta road, killing 14 persons. Among the deceased were five children, three females, two males, eight women and one man, leaving nine survivors with various degrees of injuries. Similarly, the Edo crash happened at Arue, Uromi in Esan North East Local Government Area of the state.

A driver said to be avoiding potholes lost control of the steering and crashed into a compound, killing six children from one family while playing football at the front of their house. In another development, a Toyota Sienna bus and three other vehicles collided with an articulated truck loaded with petroleum products in Agbede, also in Edo State, killing nine persons (eight males and one female), making it a total of 15 persons, who lost their lives in the two different Incidents. However, the State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Solomon Aghure, confirmed the Lokoja incident to newsmen on Friday.

Aghure said three vehicles; two trucks and a passenger bus, were involved in the accident, which happened on Thursday 14. According to the sector commander, the three vehicles were travelling on the same lane towards Anyingba when a truck suddenly hit the bus from behind and as a result of the impact hit the truck in its front. Aghure said that the bus was trapped in between the two trucks with all the passengers before his men got to the scene to carry out a rescue operation which lasted for hours. He however, lamented that 14 out of the 23 persons involved in the accident died on the spot while nine others sustained various degrees of injury.

He said: “Those who died included three female children, two male children, eight women and one man. “Three men, one woman and five children, comprising two male children and three female children were lucky as they survived the accident with some injuries.”

He said the injured were taken to Holley Memorial Hospital, Ochadamu for treatment while corpses of the dead were deposited at the morgue of Grimard Hospital, Anyingba. Aghure attributed the accident to possible break failure but said that further investigation will be carried out to determine its actual cause.

The Edo incident however, sparked protests, as youths set the Mercedes Benz Saloon car ablaze, blocking the road, thereby making road users seek alternative routes. Confirming the reports, the FRSC Sector Commander in Edo State, Henry Benamaisia, said the multiple incidents were as a result of brake failure on the part of the articulated truck driver and over speeding on the part of the Sienna bus driver. He also confirmed the incident in Arue, Uromi.

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