Tragedy struck, yesterday, as 14 passengers were burnt
beyond recognition while 14 others sustained various degrees of injuries on
Ogbomoso-Jebba Road, Ilorin due to an auto crash.It was gathered that the
accident involved a fully loaded tanker and a lorryIt was gathered that the
truck loaded with cattle and passengers was said to be coming from one of the
states in the North while the tanker was believed to be heading towards the
opposite direction when they collided.Speaking, Kwara State Sector Commander of
Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Mary Wakawa, while confirming the sad
incident, said it happened in the early hours of the day.According to her, “one
of the heavy duty vehicles veered off its lane and collided with the other.
This was around 5am. Both vehicles went up in flame. 13 persons died on the
spot while one died in the hospital. We rushed 14 injured passengers with
severe burns to University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, UITH. Already, with the
support of the Kwara State Transport Management Agency, KWTMA, we had evacuated
the wreck.”Wakawa, while cautioning road users against excessive speed, night
driving and driving exhaustion, said the 13 charred bodies of the victims had
been given mass burial.She attributed the accident to exhaustion adding, “our
drivers should stop long driving at night. They need rest to avoid human errors
on the roads.”While speaking on this year edition of Road Traffic Crash Victims
Remembrance Week in Ilorin, said the ratio of road traffic accident in Nigeria
still remained high, 160 accidents to 10,000
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